Riddle's World
by Ithitani
Summary: Harry encounters Tom Riddle in the forbidden forest. AU, Dimension Travel, Slash
1. Chapter 1

Title: Riddle's World

Summary: Harry encounters Tom Riddle in the forbidden forest. AU, Dimension Travel, Slash

_"Yes, I have your wand. I wasn't able to open the moleskin pouch since it seems spelled to only open to those specifically bound to it. I will give them back to you once I have deemed you safe to yourself and others."_

_ Shock flooded Harry as his eyes snapped back to look at Riddle. _

_ Riddle should be torturing and killing him. Not making sure he was 'safe' to be around others._

**A/N:** This story was inspired by the idea that Riddle would have grown up differently if he had been raised by a family member instead of stuck in the orphanage – something that JKR said in a Q&A session (don't remember which one specifically). This story is one of the many ways I imagined the wizarding world becoming if Voldemort never existed. I hope you readers enjoy it :)

This story doesn't have a beta. I read through and try to catch mistakes, but I know there is a chance I have missed something. If you are interested in being a beta for this story please PM me.

**Warnings:** Violence, slash, light-side bashing, eventual Tom/Harry. Harry will be 15 at the start of the story but will be 16+ throughout, so if those ages are below the age of consent where you live please be warned.

This is rated M for a reason. There will be slash in this story, so if you are under the age of 18 don't read this story. I also have this story posted up on AO3 in case Fanfiction decides to kick this story due to sexual content despite the warnings. If you don't like this pairing don't send angry reviews or PM's – just don't read the story.

**Disclaimer (for the whole story):** This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

– –

**Chapter 1**

"We should be reaching the boundary of the wards in about an hour or so." Remus whispered to him softly, wand alight in front of him as he led the way through the thick brush of the forest.

Harry nodded his head, keeping his gaze down on the dark floor before him as he navigated his way around fallen logs, bushes and poisonous plants. His hands grasped the moleskin pouch hanging from his neck in anxiousness as he continued to follow the older wizards lead. He hadn't been able to look at Remus since they had packed up and left the caves of the Tragar werewolf pack.

The pack had become a home for him when Remus had brought him forward to Tragar, the Alpha, five months ago, and pleaded for the Alpha to welcome Harry into the pack and protect him from Voldemort, the Ministry, and the Order of the Phoenix. Both factions had been trying to hunt Harry down ever since he had decided to abandon his place in the war. A little over six months ago, in December, Harry had discovered what his true purpose in the war had been. It was then that he decided he didn't belong with the Light side anymore, and sought out help from Remus and his godfather Sirius. He refused to fight for those who were planning on sending him to be slaughtered in order to protect their naive, prejudiced and corrupted beliefs and ways of life.

Ever since then, Harry and Remus had been on the run. Sirius was able to act as a spy and send them information on the Orders plans so they would know when they needed to run again. For over a month it had been non stop paranoia, looking over their shoulders and constantly traveling from one safe house to another. Once it was discovered that Harry had run from the war and out from under Dumbledore's thumb, he'd been listed in _The Daily Prophet_ as Most Wanted Wizard. A hefty bounty had been put on his head to be captured alive. It was nearly impossible to navigate throughout the wizarding or muggle world without someone recognizing his scar and trying to subdue him and reporting him to the authorities.

It wasn't until the end of January that they finally made it to the forests of the werewolf pack Remus belonged too. It was a blessing to finally have a stable, safe place to relax and call home. And now Remus had to leave his pack because of Harry. Sirius had called through the two-way mirror earlier in the afternoon stating that the Order had figured out the location of Remus' pack and were going to send a small envoy to speak with the Alpha to find their whereabouts.

After Remus had informed Tragar to expect a visit from members of the Order, Harry had gathered his meager belongings, stowing them away in his moleskin pouch, and set off. As they made their way through the forest, and day turned to night, Harry couldn't help but keep wondering how long this was going to last. How long until the Order or one of Voldemort's Death Eaters capture him? Even if they were able to find another place to call home it would only be temporary. They would never be able to relax or settle into a new life. None of this would end until he was dead.

Harry glanced over at Remus, who walked slightly ahead of him, his honey brown eyes glowing in the dark as he scanned the forest for potential threats. Remus looked a lot different from when he first met the man in his third year. Gone were the scars that had littered his face and body. The gray that had once dominated his hair was now a healthy looking auburn.

Harry wasn't sure the exact time frame, probably sometime during Harry's fourth year, Remus had come to accept his lycanthropy and found his pack. The self hatred that had once consumed him and the poison of the Wolfsbane Potion had crippled his inner wolf and caused extremely painful transformations into a sickly and hideous wolf. It hindered his werewolf abilities of heightened senses, amazing strength and quick healing. All of this was fueled by the Light Side convincing him that he was nothing but a beast and monster, and forcing him to believe he would live a short life crippled by his condition.

This was one of the reasons he couldn't stand the thought of continuing to fight for the 'Light Side'. The self hatred they had nurtured in Remus nearly killed him, and Harry always grew angry at the thought. If it weren't for Tragar finding Remus and teaching him the truth about his Lycanthropy he would have continued on with his stinted existence. It was another reason why he couldn't let Remus keep running with him. The only thing that had saved Remus was his pack, and Harry knew if they left now he may never see them again.

"Is something wrong, Pup?" Remus asked, glancing over his shoulder to look at Harry with slight worry. Harry knew he was concerned with how subdued he'd been since leaving the caves.

"I think you should stay behind with the pack." Even though his voice was barely a whisper, Harry knew the werewolf had heard.

Remus halted in his steps and turned around to face Harry fully. It was really hard for Harry to meet his gaze. He knew Remus wouldn't like to hear what he had to say.

"I'm not leaving you to fend for yourself Harry." Remus replied stiffly. His voice was soft and calm but Harry still detected the slight sharpness to the words. As though Remus knew what he was going to say but didn't want to hear it.

"I won't be fending for myself." Harry said. Remus looked like he was about to protest so he continued, quickly to avoid interruptions. "Not for long anyways. Sirius is coming and he'll be able to get me to the next safe house without any problems. I'll have enough time to figure things out from there. I can always send a Patronus to keep you updated or make another mirror to-"

"I am not leaving you behind!" Remus interrupted. His eyes flashed gold as his temper flared. If it weren't so close to the full moon Harry knew he wouldn't be so quick to get angry. "You are only 15 for godsakes Harry! You know you won't be able to do magic once we leave these wards until you're of age and the trace is gone. You'll be completely defenseless! I won't allow you to do this by yourself. I took you in as my pup the moment you were born, and that means I stick by you no matter what happens. Your safety is the only thing that matters to me!"

"I will never be safe!" Harry growled, his voice slightly raised in his desperate insistence. "As long as I'm alive Voldemort and Dumbledore will never stop trying to kill me! This war will never stop until I'm dead and you know it! The least I can do is make sure that you-"

"Harry, that is enough!" Remus growled. He stepped forward towards Harry and grasped his shoulders tightly, giving him a slight shake as he spoke. "I will not have this discussion with you. No matter what you say I will not go back to the pack. I will die trying to protect you and I will never forgive myself if I let you run off and get yourself killed. _My_ safety shouldn't be any of your concern!"

"But-" Harry began, before he was quickly cut off by the rumbling growl from Remus' chest and the flash of teeth and flaring of the werewolf's nostrils. If there was one thing Harry learned from living with werewolves, was that you never pushed those more dominant than you too far. Unless you wanted to be punished. Now, Remus was by no means the Alpha of the pack, but he definitely outranked Harry. Even though he wasn't a werewolf, he was still considered a 'pup' when he was accepted in the Alphas pack, and everyone outranked a pup.

Because of what he's learned he didn't hesitate in shutting his mouth and baring his throat to Moony. He couldn't stop the soft whimper that fell past his lips when he felt the sharp teeth lightly scrape the skin of his bared throat, but maintained his position despite his racing heart; going limp in Remus' grasp and staying still until the werewolf was satisfied with his show of submission. Harry always hated acting like this, but since hes been in the pack he has had to do it on more occasions than he'd like to admit.

After Remus licked his throat in acceptance and forgiveness, he released his hold on Harry, running his fingers through his messy, raven hair as they continued walking towards the boundaries of the wards. Even though he understood where Remus was coming from, it still didn't resolve the feelings of hopelessness and despair when it came to their situation.

"Now Harry," Remus began after several moments of silence. His eyes were back to their honey brown colour and his voice was soothing and calm once more. "I know that you are concerned about our future. I know you have enjoyed the semblance of a normal life we have come to live the past few months, and that it is hard to leave behind. But I want you to know that we won't always be running forever."

Harry doubted this, but he's been in enough arguments with Remus and Sirius about this topic several times and he knew it was futile to voice his doubts once more. Remus had said he was being pessimistic but Harry felt he was just being realistic.

"You know that Sirius has been utilizing his vast family library to research possible ways for us to safely remove the Horcrux from you." Remus continued as they steadily navigated their way through the thick brush of the forest. "And so far, it hasn't been very promising. But three days ago, I received a book he had found in his vault and I think it may be the answer to our problems."

Without taking his eyes from the forest ahead of them, Remus reached into his robe pocket with his free hand and held it out for Harry to inspect. With shaking hands, Harry grasped the book and studied the very worn gray cover of the book. The moment he had taken hold of the book he had felt an immense amount of magic exuding from it. He knew that meant the book was both very old and filled with knowledge about ancient, and powerful magic.

Remus was convinced that if there was a way to remove the Horcrux, that Dumbledore will no longer desire to kill him. Thus giving them a better chance at succeeding in finding a permanent place to settle down in since they would only have to hide from one group of enemies instead of two.

Unwillingly, Harry felt a spark of hope fill his chest at the prospect of seeing this war through to the end with his life intact. But he brutally crushed the feeling as he realized the reality of the situation. He knew that if this book did indeed hold the answers to removing the taint of Voldemort's soul from his own, then why didn't Dumbledore ever try to find the answer before? If it was as easy as scouring through an old family library to get the answer, then he knew it was fully in Dumbledore's capabilities to have found this solution years ago. Instead, Dumbledore had kept the knowledge about the Horcrux a secret and didn't bother trying to remove it.

_It wasn't all about the Horcrux, though_. No, Harry knew for sure that the Horcrux wasn't the only reason for Dumbledore to order his death. There was still a _prophecy_ after all, and the senile old coot had based his plans for this entire war on that bloody thing. Even if Sirius and Remus were able to safely remove the Horcrux from his body and destroy it, Dumbledore would still hunt for him, because according to him – it was Harry's destiny to be sacrificed for the 'greater good', to be murdered, to _die_.

So of course the elderly Headmaster didn't bother trying to find a way to remove it. In the end, there wouldn't be a point to it.

During the past half year Harry liked to occasionally delude himself with the thought that Dumbledore would do anything to protect the life of an innocent. But from what he's learned about the Headmaster this past year he realized he wasn't so sure who the wizard _really_ was. Yes, Dumbledore preached about the Greater Good, and forgiveness and second chances, but was it possible it was all a ploy to gain the trust and support of the magical community? Or was his confidence in his view of what exactly the 'Greater Good' entailed so strong that he felt certain sacrifices were necessary for the benefit of the world at large?

Despite what Dumbledore's true character was, Harry knew that it didn't give the man the right to decide who lived and who died. No matter how intelligent and powerful he is, he wasn't a God, so it wasn't his place to play with the lives of people around them and use them in his plots and schemes to shape the world in a way _he_ believed it should be. And because of this, Harry knew Dumbledore would never let him be even if his soul was free from Voldemort's Horcrux – and it was all because of the stupid prophecy.

Even though Harry didn't know the full contents of the Prophecy, he was sure that whatever it contained had convinced Dumbledore that Harry, a teenage boy, was the only one able to kill Voldemort and end his bloody campaign to take over the Wizarding World. So Harry knew he would never be able to relax and let his guard down. He will never be able to settle down with Remus and Sirius and live out a normal life. That was why he didn't even consider opening the text he held in his hands. Yes, he would be happy to be rid of the piece of Voldemort that was leeching onto his soul, but it would only give him false hope for a future he will never receive. Harry preferred to live the rest of his existence without any sugar coated fantasies of what could be.

Wordlessly, Harry handed the book back to Remus, ignoring the werewolf's inquiring gaze as to why he didn't open it. Keeping his gaze ahead of him, he continued following Remus' lead as he mentally prepared himself for the difficulties they could be facing the next few days. Especially if the Order of the Phoenix were able to find evidence of their stay in this forest.

A rustle of leaves that sounded from a spot originating not too far ahead of them, halted the two in their footsteps. Remus immediately extinguished the light emitting from his wand to prevent any potential enemies from spotting them. Now surrounded in darkness, with little light from the moon breaching the foliage of trees above them, Harry held perfectly still and waited.

After a few moments of listening and waiting, Harry felt a familiar, calloused hand lightly wrap around his forearm that started tugging him slowly forward. Knowing that Remus could see in the dark, he followed quietly, trusting the werewolf to keep him safe from losing his footing as they continued towards the boundaries that lay ahead.

For fifteen minutes they walked through the darkness without another sign of disturbance before Remus halted once more. Harry could hear him taking deep breaths and scenting the air around them. His eyesight had adjusted enough to the dark to make out the dark form of Remus' arm lift, and flick the wand that was held in his grasp.

Snapping his eyes shut at the light that had spontaneously burst to life, it took a few moments to open them once again to see Remus smiling softly at the huge, black form of a dog making its way towards them at a steady pace.

"It's good to see you again, Padfoot." Remus greeted warmly as the black canine stopped in front of them. Harry grinned when Padfoot shifted back to his human form. A smile graced the lips of Sirius Black, as he bowed low and dramatically in greeting before rushing forward and enveloping Harry and Remus in his arms.

Hugging back, Harry relaxed his tense muscles in the embrace of the two most important people in his life as he momentarily let his troubled thoughts leave him. It was times like this where Harry really felt that Remus' promises for a good future were possible. The rough feeling of clothes against his arms and face, Remus' smell of dust and rain and Sirius' musky fragrance seemed to anchor him to the world of the living. Reminding him he was a living, breathing human, with hopes and dreams. Reminding him that he was more than just a tool in a world plagued by war. That he was more than just a Horcrux.

All too soon the hug ended, along with Harry's momentary bubble of happiness. "It's good to see you Padfoot."

Sirius grinned at him, ruffling his hair playfully. "It's good to see you too, Pup. Here, put this on your wrist." Reaching into his pocket, Sirius pulled out a make shift bracelet made of twine with a small twig hanging from it. "It's an emergency Portkey in case something happens on our way to the safe house. It leads to one of the abandoned Black Estates located in Scotland. It isn't safe to stay there but it will delay any Order members or Death Eaters from finding you so quickly. Simply snap the twig to activate it."

Harry nodded in understanding as he secured the bracelet around his right wrist. The three wizards walked a few more steps further until they reached the very edge of the ward boundary. Harry could feel the wall of buzzing magic in front of them shift slightly as they prepared to cross its protective properties.

"Alright, as soon as we pass through the wards, we are left open and vulnerable to any tracking spells that might be searching for us." Remus explained. "Which means Harry and I will have to activate the Portkey the second we step through the barrier." Remus paused and waited for Harry's affirmative nod of understanding before continuing. "Sirius, that also means you will have to Disapparate as quickly as possible. In case any Order members show up and realize you've known our whereabouts this entire time."

"Yes, yes, Moony I know the plan." Sirius replied, waving his hand dismissively. "And it's not all bad if I get found out. It'll finally give me an excuse to activate the wards around Grimmauld Place and kick those pieces of filth from my home...not that it's much of a home to have, but still." He finished offhandedly.

Remus pulled out his pocket watch that acted as their portkey and held it out for Harry to touch. He flicked the wand that was in his other hand to extinguish the light. Harry heard movement from his right as Sirius moved forward past the barrier first; to ensure the area was clear and make sure they portkeyed out safely.

Taking a shuddering breath in an attempt to calm his nerves, Harry took two steps forward with Remus. He could feel as they passed through the wards, with the odd sensation that came with it as though they were walking through a waterfall. The instant they were past the wards, the pocket watch the two wizards were touching glowed a bright blue, and Harry braced himself for the chaotic transport.

A second later the blue light of the portkey went out, and Harry blinked in confusion. Instead of the hailstorm of colours he was expecting, they had remained in the forest.

"Harry, take out your wand." Remus instructed, as he swept his eyes through the trees surrounding them. Sirius had been waving his wand about and muttering under his breath, before swearing in irritation.

"There's anti-portkey _and_ anti-apparation wards in place." Sirius whispered. "We've been found out."

"Stupefy!" Remus shouted, a beam of red light shooting from his wand to sail through the darkness of the trees. A muffled thump could be heard as the spell hit it's intended target. "Harry, get back through the clan wards. Now!"

Before Harry could register the amount of spells that started firing off from all directions, Remus had grasped his shoulder and pushed him roughly the few feet back towards the wards. Expecting to fall through the wards, Harry was unprepared when instead, he came to an abrupt halt, bruising his shoulder as though he'd hit an invisible brick wall.

Remus growled in outrage, firing off spells haphazardly as Harry quickly scrambled onto his feet, hitting his fists against the wards for a few moments, but it wouldn't give. "Someone in the clan must've barred us from reentering the wards." Remus snarled, dodging a sickly yellow coloured spell that was aimed for his head.

Harry's chest constricted tightly as he realized the ramifications of those words. Someone in the clan had betrayed them. Someone he had called family had slipped his and Remus' whereabouts to the Order and prevented them from seeking shelter in the wards once the attack began.

"Harry get your wand out and start running East!" Sirius whispered harshly by his ear as he held up a shield to protect them. Harry was brought out of his momentary shock to realize that he had been stupidly standing still, completely unaware of his surroundings in the middle of the battle. "The east side has the least amount of resistance. Run until you get past the wards and activate your portkey!"

It was chaos all around as Harry pulled his holly wand from his moleskin pouch. There were spells flying in different directions without any real purpose. As Harry raised his wand and starting casting stunning and shield spells as he ran through the forest, he finally figured out the reason for all the chaos. Not only were Order members scattered throughout the forest, there were also groups of masked Death Eaters and purple robed Aurors from the Ministry.

Somehow, all three factions learned of Harry's whereabouts and had arrived, unprepared to deal with the other groups that were there as well. Remus was targeting anyone within sight with stunners and disarming spells. Sirius seemed adamant to focus on the Death Eaters and hit them with the nastiest curses he knew. Death Eaters were attacking Order members and Aurors. The Aurors were attacking the Death Eaters. A few of the Order Members were as well. It soon became clear, however, that there was at least one Order member solely focused on capturing Harry: Mad-Eye Moody.

The ex-Auror had emerged from behind a tree on Harry's right, shooting a leg shattering curse at him. Harry barely managed to put up a shield charm in time to absorb the curse before it struck him. He didn't slow down from his run. In fact, he increased his speed knowing he had a particular advantage over Moody, who was missing a leg and wasn't able to pursue him as easily.

Harry sensed the tingle of magic every time a spell was shot at him from behind. He didn't know if they were all from Moody or exactly what spells they were, but it didn't necessarily matter. He dodged what he could and sent up shields in the hopes they were strong enough to block the unknown multitude of spells, staying solely focused on running through the thicket of trees and hoping that he reached the edge of the wards soon.

He was worried about Sirius and Remus. He knew that they weren't in nearly as much danger as he was, and that if they did in fact get captured by the Order, they wouldn't be killed. Even though they helped Harry to escape, they didn't have a piece of the Dark Lords soul inside them. Not like he did. Despite knowing that, Harry had to fight the urge to turn around to see if they were behind him, trying to reach the edge of the wards as well. He knew that turning around to look would only slow him down and give Moody, or someone else, a chance to catch him.

A surge of pain erupted in his mind as his scar flared up. He stumbled momentarily but was able to keep going, a hand clutched to the flaming scar on his forehead in an attempt to forestall the pain. He heard screams of fear and pain behind him; a deep familiar voice, probably Kingsley's, ordering a retreat. It meant that Voldemort had arrived.

The onslaught of spells being shot at him had ceased, and Harry pushed forward, pumping his legs faster, trying to get as much distance from the battle as he could. His vision started to get blurry as his scar continued to flare as Voldemort's rage increased. The root of a tree surged in front of him unexpectedly, knocking his feet out from under him and sending him sprawling forward on the ground.

He shrieked as he felt something sharp pierce his side as he tumbled to the forest floor, distantly aware of the feeling of his limbs being bound together tightly with magical bonds.

"You aren't getting away this time, Potter." A ruff voice chuckled. His face was pushed harshly into the ground as a wooden leg was pressed against his skull. "Always knew you were a bad one. Albus wouldn't listen to me before when I told him you needed to be put down. There's darkness in you – saw it in your eyes the moment I first layed eyes on you, locked up in your room last summer. Even the muggles sensed it."

Harry's heart was pounding in his chest as he heard Moody speaking, his magic working furiously to break the magical binds that were holding them. He'd done it before, he just needed a few more moments and then –

"_Crucio!"_

His body exploded in pain, screams ripping from his throat as the cruciatus curse tore through his body and magic. The pain seemed to be worse than he remembered it, his body being held viciously tight by the magical bonds and preventing his limbs from thrashing under the curse.

His screams stopped abruptly when the curse was lifted, but his muscles still twitched as after-waves of the curse coursed through his body. His magic too scattered at the moment to free him from the binds that held him.

Moody chuckled as he removed his foot from his head, taking a rough grasp of his dark hair before yanking his head up. Harry met his gaze, his breathing ragged as his body recovered from the torture curse.

"None of that boy." Moody's voice was raspy, his magical eye focusing in on his scar. "I know you can break binding spells. Keep it up and I'll keep hitting you with the cruciatus – just enough to keep your magic from working properly."

Harry's head was dropped unceremoniously from Moody's grasp as the ex-Auror stood to his full height. "And don't worry lad, you won't be needing this any longer." Harry felt his blood run cold as he felt the wood of his wand sliding from his grasp.

Harry heard a rustle of leaves just a few feet behind him. He heard Moody shift sharply before yelling out, _"Bombar –"_

Moody's incantation was cut off abruptly as he tumbled to the ground. Harry could hear a vicious snarling sound and shrieks as whatever animal that had attacked Moody started biting into his flesh. Harry squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on forcing his magic to realign and break the magical bonds.

He was free a moment later, quickly rolling over and crouching on the ground, pulling a knife from the holster at his side as quickly as possible in order to defend himself should the animal turn to attack him as well.

It took several seconds for Harry to grasp what he was seeing. Blood and strips of flesh were covering Moody and the giant dog that was biting ferociously into the ex-Auror's arm. It wasn't just any dog that was ripping Moody limb by limb, it was Padfoot.

A strangled gurgling sound emitted from Moody's throat as Padfoot clamped his jaws around the exposed neck. The noises ceased momentarily, and Moody's limbs slumped to the floor as his life bled from his body.

Padfoot turned his head to look at Harry, giving a short bark as though to tell him to get a move on, before running off through the trees once more. Harry blinked and shook his head, clearing his momentary shock before jumping to his feet and grabbing his wand that had fallen to the dirt floor; keeping his eyes off Moody's mutilated body and holding his breath against the harsh stench of blood and gore that filled the air.

Harry took off running once more through the forest, seeing Padfoot through spots of the forest as he disarmed a few other wizards that were scattered about and in his way. He nearly sighed in relief as he felt his skin sizzle as he felt a wall of wards a few feet in front of him. He saw Padfoot just on the other side of the wards, yipping for him to hurry up, waiting to make sure Harry made it across safely before disappearing himself. Harry didn't know where Remus was, and sincerely hoped he was alright and not far behind.

He skidded to a halt as a purple spell came flying through the forest, and striking Padfoot in the side; sending the Animagus hurtling through the air until he struck a tree. A loud crack reverberated through the air as Padfoot struck the thick bark before slumping to the ground, unmoving.

"Sirius!" Harry yelled as he rushed towards Padfoot. There were only a few feet more before he was past the wards. He could easily grab Padfoot and activate his portkey in a matter of moments if –

Harry screamed as he was enveloped in yellow light. His limbs shook sporadically, feeling as though electric currents were running through his body. He slumped to his knees, gripping his wand tightly as he fought the tremors that overcame him.

The enveloping yellow light quickly vanished, the relief of his limbs relaxing had him falling backwards onto the forest floor, landing harshly on his back. Before he could lift his wand to defend himself against the unknown attacker, his arms and legs were spelled to the forest floor; the sticking charm preventing him from moving.

Harry breathed harshly as small tremors still wracked through his limbs. His magic more chaotic than before, since he still wasn't completely recovered from the cruciatus. It wasn't nearly as painful as the cruciatus, but hardly pleasant either. A tall figure in luminous blue robes appeared before him. Albus Dumbledore slowly came into view as the Disillusionment charm faded from his body. Dumbledore lifted his wand and gave a flick, extending the edge of the wards out by about 20 feet so they were now well out of Harry's reach.

Harry swallowed hollowly as he met the gaze of the elder wizard. The normally twinkling blue eyes were staring at him in sadness and mourning. The only sounds in the forest were Harry's harsh breathing and the muffled sounds of battle still being held in the distance.

"I'm so sorry, my boy." Dumbledore spoke softly as he stepped closer to peer down at Harry.

Harry didn't know what he had expected when he finally saw Dumbledore after he'd found out all the man's manipulations and plans. On some level, he expected the old wizard to plead with him, that his ultimate demise was the only way to end the war. Maybe Dumbledore would've tried to explain his actions and plans while ensuring Harry that he would be dieing an honorable death. Telling him that the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few.

But Harry knew none of those things would be said as he continued gazing in those blue eyes. He didn't see hate or anger or maliciousness in those eyes like he had expected. Instead, Harry only saw a haunted look. A look he expected to see from someone who was inherently good being forced to do something inherently bad.

Harry hated it. Hated Dumbledore now more than ever. Hated, that Dumbledore could still think this was the right way – that this was the only way. Harry knew better.

He knew that those words of false comfort and cajoling wouldn't come, because Dumbledore knew that Harry would never agree with it. Dumbledore knew that the moment Harry had ran once he learned the truth.

Both of them knew that words wouldn't change anything.

"I'm so sorry." Dumbledore whispered again, before pointing his wand straight at Harry's heart.

Harry always thought that the moment he finally faced death, he would be filled with fear or anger. Maybe his life would flash before his eyes or he would think only of his regrets and sorrows and all he wished to change before he no longer had the ability too. Instead, Harry only felt numb as the wand point was trained solely on him as he continued to gaze in the Headmaster's eyes.

Harry finally broke eye contact, closing his eyes as he heard Dumbledore speak those two, horrifying yet simple words. He thought he heard someone screaming his name – it sounded like Remus, but he wasn't sure. He didn't bother trying to look. He had no desire for the brilliant emerald green of the killing curse to be the last thing he saw.

Even though he couldn't see the spell, he could feel it. The enormous magic of the spell sizzled through the air as it struck him straight in the chest. The force of the spell didn't stop it's motion at his chest though.

His entire being lurched as though he was being pushed back. Back further and further to a place Harry couldn't contemplate. He didn't know if there was a heaven or a hell, or any sort of afterlife. But he felt the constriction on his chest as though a giant hand was clasped around his torso – pushing and pushing him further back into never ending darkness.

Harry felt momentary terror as his being suddenly lurched sideways. The pressure on his chest tightened further. It was as though a hook had attached to his side and yanked him from sinking back further into the abyss, and the force on his torso was trying to drag him back, trying to push him further back into death.

He screamed as the pressure grasping his torso was torn away from him forcefully, as though pieces of his chest were being torn off. He screamed again in shock as a myriad of sensations returned to him; unaware until now that he had lost those senses in the first place. He could smell dirt and mildew. He could feel all his aching limbs and the painful puncture in his side form when Moody had sent him tumbling to the ground. He could hear the wind rustle the leaves of trees and the murmur of voices very close by. Harry could breath in warm night air and feel the rough ground beneath him, and the warm pulsing energy from the wand still held tightly in his grasp.

Opening his eyes, Harry froze as he saw the kind and wise gaze of the centaur Firenze, illuminated by the yellow light of a torch he held in his grasp. Harry continued staring as thoughts and questions raced through his mind. Why wasn't he dead? Why was Firenze here? Did that mean he was in the Forbidden Forest? How was that even possible? Firenze was also looking at Harry curiously, not saying anything, merely sweeping his gaze over Harry's form before settling on the lightning bolt scar that marred his forehead.

Harry finally looked away from Firenze when he heard a slight shuffle of feet on his right. He turned his gaze swiftly to the other person hovering above him, only to feel his face pale and his heart beating furiously in his chest as he met the dark green gaze of Tom Riddle.

Without thought, Harry had raised his wand in a matter of seconds, aiming directly at Riddle's head before sending off the strongest blasting spell he could manage.

Harry was on his feet and running in the opposite direction before he could see if the spell had even hit.

Tom Riddle.

The name raced through his mind as he tried to slowly comprehend what he had seen. The last he had seen the Dark Lord he was still serpentine with glowing red eyes. How had he gained his former body back?

Harry had no idea where he was running or how far he had gone. All he knew was that he had to get away. He had already tried activating the portkey on his wrist, only for it to fizzle out before it could activate. Either that meant the portkey was broken, or he was still within wards that prevented it from working properly.

He pushed his thoughts from his mind as he tried to focus on dodging the trees in front of him. He couldn't afford to think of the look on Riddles face when he'd seen him. Riddle had look confused and even..worried. And that just didn't make sense. None of this did.

Harry raised his wand as Firenze appeared in front of him. How Harry didn't hear the sound of his hooves as Firenze chased after him, he didn't know. Before he could send off a spell however, Firenze blew a handful of neon blue dust in his face.

The dust filled his nostrils and he immediately lost all control of his limbs. He couldn't run anymore or move. He couldn't even keep his eyes open as Firenze caught him before he fell. Harry was unconscious in a matter of seconds.

– –

The sensation of scratchy sheets rubbing against his skin seemed awfully familiar to Harry as he slowly started to regain consciousness. The harsh smell of antiseptic assaulting his nose also seemed familiar. It wasn't until Harry was finally able to open his eyes after adjusting to the harsh light shining against his closed lids that he finally figured out why he had that sense of familiarity.

He was in the Hogwarts Infirmary.

Instantly, memories of the previous night flooded back into his mind as he tried to jerk up out of bed. The only problem was, he was hardly able to move as his body appeared to be restrained to the bed. Padded cuffs enclosed his wrists and ankles while white straps were bound tightly across his torso and legs. The only thing he could move with relative ease was his head.

It was with the movement of his head to look around the infirmary, expecting to see someone from the Order – or possibly Dumbledore himself – that Harry caught sight of Riddle.

Tom Riddle, although looking like a 30 something year old man, was easily recognizable even though Harry had only seen the 15 year old version from the diary. Riddle was sitting in a comfortable, black, high back winged chair, right next to Harry's bed. His dark eyes focused solely on Harry, with his long fingers clasped together loosely in his lap as though he had waited for Harry to awake with absolute patience. A small table was to the mans right, where Harry's moleskin pouch and _wand_ were resting.

Immediately, a swell of terror bloomed in Harry's chest at the realization that he was not only bound to a bed and unable to move and escape, but was also at the mercy of the Dark Lord. Questions about how he ended up in this situation, or how he was still _alive_ fled his mind as panic started to take hold.

Before he could be fully gripped by his terror, the overwhelming feelings suddenly died down as a wave of peaceful calmness flooded his mind.

"What did you do?" Harry rasped. His mouth felt dry and his voice was harsh as he spoke. Even though he knew he should be feeling panic or worry or confusion, all he could feel was calm, and he knew that was unnatural. Even though Harry had been making strides in the art of Occlumency, he wasn't nearly experienced enough to suppress his emotions like this. Riddle must have done something.

"I gave you the Draught of Peace." Riddle spoke. His voice was deep and smooth as he answered calmly; looking at Harry with guarded curiosity. "I felt it wise to give it to you to ensure we could have a relatively peaceful conversation once we get all the facts straightened out."

Harry was hardly processing what he was hearing. Once he knew he'd been given the Draught of Peace he knew he had to be extra cautious to keep himself from becoming content with the situation. Harry's eyes flicked to his wand as he tried to figure out how to get to it and escape. Although he had no idea how the Dark Lord ended up sitting so calmly in Hogwarts with Dumbledore still acting as Headmaster, Harry didn't think it wise to stick around and ask questions. He could always find out later from Remus and Sirius about what the hell is going on. If he could find them, that is.

With a subtle movement of his wrist, Harry could feel the failed portkey had been removed. He'd have to send a Patronus to his godfathers once he was in a relatively safe place to let them know of his whereabouts.

Riddle followed Harry's gaze to his wand, before moving his eyes back to focus on Harry.

"Yes, I have your wand. I wasn't able to open the moleskin pouch since it seems spelled to only open to those specifically bound to it. I will give them back to you once I have deemed you safe to yourself and others."

Shock flooded Harry as his eyes snapped back to look at Riddle. Before his eyes could widen comically, the shock disappeared to be replaced by calmness once more. Even though his mind wasn't fueled by his surprise, he couldn't help but wonder _why_ Riddle would even mention the possibility of giving him back his wand.

Riddle should be torturing and killing him. Not making sure he was 'safe' to be around others.

"Now," Riddle began, shaking Harry out of his thoughts, "I'm sure you are confused about the situation you are in. I am able to enlighten you on a few facts but there are still a few details I am only able to speculate about. You can ask questions once I am done and I will answer to the best of my ability. However, you will answer any questions I have in order to determine if it is wise to release you from your restraints. Does this seem agreeable to you?"

Once again, shock and confusion assaulted his mind before it was gone a moment later. Although Harry knew he would be extremely irritated by the back and forth pull of his emotions if he could _feel_ irritated, Harry also realized that this calmness would help him think more logically if he allowed himself to focus.

Although Harry had no idea what game Riddle was playing at, he was aware that he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, and that he had no choice but to listen. As far as questions though, if Riddle thought Harry would divulge information about the Order, Riddle would be sorely mistaken. Harry would never betray the Order, even if he _did_ know of their plans in the first place. Just because Harry was against the Order didn't mean he agreed with the Dark.

Harry focused back on Riddle, and gave a slight nod of his head.

"Good." Riddle's hands separated to settle on the armrest of his chairs. His fingers drumming softly on the black fabric as though contemplating on where to begin.

"Four nights ago, I received a message from Firenze asking for my assistance to investigate an unknown pocket of magic growing rapidly in the Forbidden Forest on the outskirts of his herds territory. Imagine our surprise when _you_ suddenly appeared out of the pocket of magic we were investigating."

Harry would have felt surprised once again if he could. He had been unconscious for four days?

"If you remember, Firenze, the centaur, apprehended you after you attacked me and fled." Riddle continued. "After an initial diagnostic scan I found you were suffering from after effects from the Cruciatius and Nerve Curse as well as a few other injuries. I had Firenze bring you to the infirmary while I went back to investigate the scene of your arrival."

Riddle pulled out a very tiny book from the sleeve of his robe before enlarging it to its original size with a quiet murmured word. The small show of wandless magic reminded Harry that Riddle was very much a danger, even if he didn't have his wand out.

Riddle opened the book and began flipping through the pages before turning it around to show it to Harry.

On the page Harry could see a multitude of runes running together to form the shape of a large rectangle. On the inside edges of the rectangle were small bits of text that was difficult to make out from the distance Harry was from the page, but appeared to be in a language he wasn't familiar with at all.

"This is what I saw burned into the forest floor, right where you appeared."

Riddle closed the book, before wandlessly shrinking it and hiding it up the sleeve of his robe before looking at Harry with a deep, searching gaze. It made Harry slightly uncomfortable, but waited silently, as he didn't have any clue how to respond to what he was hearing.

"While you were healing in the infirmary, I researched the symbols and the information I gathered from the pocket of magical energy and discovered that you are from an alternate universe."

Harry blinked in mild confusion at those words. Riddle was saying he appeared in a different universe after being hit with the killing curse? Harry would've laughed if he could summon up the emotions to do so. He had no idea what Riddle was planning, but this definitely wasn't it. What could Riddle gain from making up such a story? Harry thought it was possible Riddle would make up this elaborate story in an attempt to earn his trust. But why would Riddle want his trust in the first place? Ever since Harry was an infant their encounters have been filled with nothing more than homicide attempts. There was nothing for Riddle to gain from having Harry's trust. So why was he saying these things?

"Of course, all of this has been nothing but theory. To travel to a parallel universe has so far been considered nothing but theoretical fantasy as much as traveling through time over the space of many years instead of the mere 12 hours our time-turners are capable of.

"However, it seems there is irrefutable proof that you, in fact, _have_ arrived from a different reality. Although I don't know how you were able to achieve it, I realized that the reason you probably attacked was because you recognized me, or rather recognized my counterpart, in your world. Hence the reason I have allowed you to stay in the Hogwarts infirmary even though you _did_ attack me, instead of informing Magical Law Enforcement of your attempt to decapitate me."

If what Riddle was saying was true, Harry thought the man was taking Harry's attempt to blow his head off rather well. Not that Harry believed his story. The entire concept was ridiculous.

"The restraints were an extra precaution simply because I was unable to find any identification on you," Riddle indicated to the unopened moleskin pouch, "and there were still students in the school. I kept you unconscious until I had figured out some of the circumstances of your arrival as well as to ensure the safety of my students. I only allowed you to regain consciousness today since the students returned home for the summer holidays this morning."

Riddle reached for a glass of water sitting on top of a small stool resting on his left side that had gone unnoticed by Harry previously. After taking a sip and setting the glass back down, Riddle folded his hands together once more.

"Do you have any questions?"

Yes. Harry had a lot of questions. They ranged from 'How delusional are you?' to 'How stupid do you think I am?'. There was also the horrifying thought of 'Please tell me this isn't the after life' tumbling through his mind. After all, nobody knows what happens after death. Is it possible they just appeared in another world where absolutely nothing makes sense? Or perhaps everyone was just instantly reborn and for some reason Harry's rebirth had gone horribly wrong because of the Horcrux leeching onto his soul?

Or maybe, Harry thought morbidly, he _did_ die and ended up in hell; cursed to forever endure Voldemort's mind games.

Before Harry was able to blurt out any of the numerous thoughts and questions tumbling through his mind, the curtain around his bed swung open.

The Draught of Peace acted up once again, this time to Harry's relief as he was sure to have a heart attack if it didn't. The woman on the other side of the curtain was someone Harry knew to be dead. It was impossible for her to be alive. He momentarily considered the fact that someone was impersonating her with Polyjuice, but dismissed the thought nearly a second after it entered his mind.

Not only was it impossible to find a lock of her hair to use for Polyjuice, Harry knew the potion didn't work for those who were dead in the first place. No, it seemed the woman he was seeing _was_ alive. Even though Harry had only seen her picture a handful of times, he knew he wasn't mistaken of her identity.

The fact that she was alive made Harry consider the possibility that Riddle _was_ telling the truth. Once Harry accepted it as a possibility, he was able to pick out all the other little things that supported it. The fact that Harry wasn't being tortured after being under Riddle's care for the past four days, as well as the fact that Riddle was _human_ and that the man hadn't once attempted to use Legilimency to enter his mind – no matter that there had been extended eye contact practically since Harry first opened his eyes – this all proved that this Riddle couldn't possibly be Voldemort.

Not only was Voldemort an ugly snake-man thing, he was also completely insane and nearly incapable of speaking without a sibilant hiss coating his words. Voldemort was also a Dark Lord. _This_ Riddle appeared to be...well, Harry could hardly believe it – the _Headmaster_ of Hogwarts.

Harry hadn't realized before, but now that he wasn't so certain that Riddle was simply trying to trick him, Harry could see the different patches on Riddles robes to indicate his station as _the_ Headmaster of Hogwarts. Not only did the robes support this thought, the fact that Riddle was in Hogwarts at all was undeniable proof that this was a different world.

In Harry's world, Dumbledore was still very much in control of Hogwarts and would rather die than let it fall into the hands of the Dark Lord.

There was also the little fact that Harry was still alive and breathing, even after being hit with the killing curse. Again.

Harry continued to turn this idea over in his head as the woman spoke to Riddle.

"Do you need assistance with anything, Headmaster?" Dorea Potter nee Black asked Riddle, before throwing Harry a quick glance.

Riddle _smiled_ at her in soft reassurance. Harry definitely knew Voldemort would _never_ smile like that no matter how dedicated he was to whatever scheme or manipulation he was up too."Everything is fine Dorea. This young man has been very cooperative and seems to have healed just fine."

Dorea, who appeared to be Hogwarts' medi-witch if her attire was anything to go by, looked at Harry once more. Her face was carefully void of any emotion as she roamed over Harry's frame to make sure that he was, in fact, fully healed.

Although Harry had seen her picture only a few times from the family tapestry hanging in the drawing room at Grimmauld Place, he could still point out a few differences. This Dorea was not only older than the young woman depicted on the tapestry, she also seemed...sadder than the picture he saw. Of course, he knew pictures weren't something to go by when it came to gauging someones happiness, but there was definitely a weariness to this Dorea that wasn't present in the picture of the young, wickedly intelligent and mischievous eyes of the other Dorea.

It made Harry wonder what had caused such a difference to appear.

"There is a scar on his forehead I wasn't able to heal." Dorea mentioned while looking at the lightning bolt shaped scar on Harry's forehead.

It was then that Harry realized his scar hadn't hurt once since his 'arrival'. He had been in Riddle's presence for nearly half an hour already and his scar didn't even give a slight twinge of pain. This more than proved to Harry that this Riddle definitely wasn't the Dark Lord.

He really was in a different world.

Harry's heart beat furiously in his chest as a mixture of mild panic and anxiety flooded through his veins at the realization that all of this _was _real, firmly lodged itself in his mind. He was only unsettled further when his heart didn't calm back down.

It seemed the Draught of Peace was wearing off.

"I wasn't able to determine the cause of the scar or how old it is," Dorea continued, completely oblivious to Harry's thoughts and the revelation her words have given him. "But the scar wasn't new when he arrived here."

"It's a curse scar." Harry said, speaking for the first time since Riddle told Harry he was in a different universe. His voice still incredibly dry and shaking as his anxiousness crept through his voice. Harry was becoming more aware of the fact that he was restrained as the Draught of Peace seemed to have worn off. The awareness of being bound only made his heart beat further in his chest as his panic continued to slowly rise.

Harry hated being tied down and restrained. It reminded him of the Dursleys.

Riddle snapped his gaze from Dorea to Harry after his revelation. Dorea's eyes widened in mild shock as she pulled her wand out, possibly to cast more diagnostic or healing spells.

"It won't heal." Harry said before Dorea could start her diagnostics. "I've had it since I was one. There isn't anything to be done about it."

Dorea looked at Riddle uncertainly at this revelation.

"Leave it be for now, Dorea." Riddle said while still looking at Harry's scar. "If he's had it as long as he claims there obviously hasn't been any negative side effects from the curse scar."

Harry would have snorted at that proclamation if he was able too. His breathing was becoming more ragged as he squirmed slightly in the restraints; sweat beginning to coat his skin.

With a nod of her head, Dorea slipped her wand back up her sleeve.

"I'll leave it to you then." Dorea responded softly as she stepped back to the other side of the curtains. "I will be at Potter Manor for the remainder of the summer holidays, but don't hesitate to floo over if you need anything."

Riddle inclined his head. "Thank you Dorea, I much appreciate it. Enjoy your holiday."

Then Dorea was gone from sight a moment later as she closed the curtain.

"Who was that?" Harry asked, frantically trying to get his mind to settle and his breathing to calm down. Although he knew who she was in _his_ world, he wanted to make sure it was the same in this world as well.

"Dorea Potter. She's been Hogwarts' medi-witch for the past 22 years." Riddle tilted his head to the side in thought. "You recognized her." It wasn't a question. "Did you know her from your world?"

Harry shook his head. "No, she...died a long time ago in my world. I recognized her from a picture I've seen."

Riddle's brow furrowed slightly in contemplation of Harry's words; his dark green eyes roaming over Harry's face as he thought.

"Although I'm sure you know who I am," Riddle began as Harry nodded in the affirmative, "we haven't been properly introduced. My name is Tom Riddle, and I have been acting Headmaster of Hogwarts for the past 30 years."

Harry frowned. Riddle had been Headmaster for the past 30 years? He wasn't sure if Riddle was born the same year as Voldemort was, but he knew that Riddle looked far too young to have been Headmaster for such a long time.

"I had my suspicions..." Riddle trailed off in thought for a moment more before continuing. "Although you have a lot of features indicating you're a Black, your hair leads me to believe you are a Potter. Is that correct?"

Harry nodded his head slowly. "Yes. My name is Harry Potter. Charlus and Dorea Potter were my grandparents."

As Harry said this, he realized that if _Dorea _was alive, then his parents were most likely alive as well.

"Your grandparents?" Riddle asked, seemingly confused.

Harry frowned before nodding his head once more. "Yes. Why?"

"Charlus and Dorea don't have children."

Harry swore he felt his heart stop beating for several moments as he mulled those words over. His father never existed? The feeling of hope and joy at the prospect of finally meeting his parents face to face crumbled tightly in his chest – the feeling of hope and joy he hadn't even been aware of had bloomed forth the moment he realized, only a few scant moments before, that it was a possibility.

Harry must have revealed some of his emotions on his face as Riddle suddenly shifted his gaze away as a look of sorrow flickered over his features.

"They've always had problems trying to conceive." Riddle continued, his voice soft. "They were finally successful when Dorea became pregnant with a boy a little over 35 years ago. There were complications however, and their child ended up being stillborn."

Riddle moved his gaze back to Harry's. Harry felt his throat tighten up and looked away.

"It's the reason why Dorea wanted to work at Hogwarts. She has always enjoyed being around children and caring for them. She's mentioned to me several times how her and Charlus had planned on naming their first son James." Harry looked back at Riddle, now that he was able to compose himself once more. "Was James your father?"

Harry nodded. "Yes. He was born in 1960 I think."

Riddle nodded and gave a short hum as though he was expecting something like this. Harry could only barely keep his emotions in check as he realized that since his father never existed in this world, that means Harry never did as well. He supposed that was a good thing, since it would be beyond weird to run into himself. Although, it did explain why he wasn't recognized by Riddle when he first appeared in this world. If there was another Harry clone running around in this world, he would surely have gone to Hogwarts.

Then, Harry couldn't helped but think about Lily, his mother. Even though James never existed didn't mean the same fate met his mother as well. Obviously, she wasn't able to marry his father, but that didn't mean she couldn't have married someone else and started a different family.

A painful clenching in his chest that Harry wasn't able to identify made Harry's thoughts about his mothers life in this world stop. He decided he wasn't going to ask about her. It was possible her story would be just as distressing as his fathers. It was best not to know. Plus, Harry knew that _his_ true mother, had given her life to save him. No matter how many worlds he traveled too, no matter how many Lily's he met, they would never be able to replace _his true_ mother. So there wasn't any point in trying too in the first place.

It was then that Harry realized he was experiencing these thoughts and emotions concerning his parents while sitting next to the man who had murdered them. Although Harry knew intellectually that _this_ Riddle didn't kill them, the whole situation just seemed wrong to Harry.

"Will you remove the restraints?" Harry asked, voice still a little stiff but polite all the same. Well, as polite as he could be while stubbornly refusing to say 'please' to the man who killed his parents. Well, the man whose _counterpart_ killed his parents, Harry amended with an internal roll of his eyes.

Riddle's attention focused back on Harry, as though he had also been lost in his own thoughts, to look at him in a long contemplative silence. Harry merely met his gaze as calmly as he could while trying to not think how uncomfortable restraints made him feel so as to prevent having a panic attack. It had happened to him before and he didn't like the experience one bit.

Finally, Riddle spoke. "Will you tell me the reasons for attacking me and the circumstances of your arrival here?"

"Yes."

Riddle nodded then. "Alright then." With a flick of his wrist, his wand appeared in his hand, only to give another flick of said wand to release Harry of his restraints.

Harry let out a relieved breathe he wasn't aware he had been holding, before finally sitting up and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed so he was facing Riddle. His movements were slow and stiff due to the fact he had done nothing but lay in a bed the last four days. But it wasn't anything he couldn't handle. Harry also noticed he was still wearing the clothing he had arrived in. The leather trousers Tragar had provided for him and the black robe he wore over his tattered brown shirt, were obviously worn with use but was much cleaner than Harry expected. He assumed Dorea had used a few cleaning spells on him while unconscious the past four days.

With a final look over at his wand, Harry began telling Riddle about his world and how he arrived here. If anything he said was taken badly, there was a chance he could grab for his wand if he needed to protect himself.

"In my world," Harry began, mind racing to think of details he should leave out – just in case. "You're the Dark Lord, who goes by the name of Voldemort."

Riddle's face was perfectly blank and calm, which Harry was relieved for. It would make things harder if Riddle had an odd reaction to anything he was going to tell him. It was only going to get worse after all. Harry also decided it would be best to use the name 'Voldemort' instead of saying 'you' in reference to Riddle, since he didn't think Riddle would appreciate being told he had done all these horrid things when he technically _didn't_ do them at all.

"Voldemort gathered followers with the goal of killing all muggles, muggleborns and half bloods in an attempt to 'purify' our world. A war was started and Voldemort was on the cusp of taking over and exposing our world to the muggles. Then, Halloween night of 1981 Voldemort attacked my family," Riddle's jaw tightened at this momentarily before smoothing out again, "since they had fought in exact opposition to Voldemort and his followers on several occasions.

"Voldemort killed both my parents, and was about to kill me too, when something happened." Harry reached up to touch his scar momentarily. "I was only one at the time, so I don't exactly remember or understand what happened, but for some reason, the killing curse he fired at me rebounded, hitting him instead and destroying his body. Leaving me with this scar."

Taking a deep breath, Harry pushed forward. "Although Voldemort's body was destroyed, he wasn't dead. He spent 13 years as a wandering spirit until he used my blood in a ritual at the end of my fourth year to regain his body."

Riddle's eyes flicked down to the thin scar on Harry's right forearm that he had been unknowingly rubbing when he talked about the resurrection.

"At first, the Ministry and the rest of the wizarding population were reluctant to believe that Voldemort was back. There had been many years of peace and they didn't want to give that up. They continued to ignore the truth of Voldemort's return for several months until Voldemort broke into Azkaban and freed his followers from the prison.

"War was officially declared, and the acting Headmaster was given certain powers to mobilize an opposition since he was the only one powerful and clever enough to stand against Voldemort." It was here that Harry decided to leave out very important details. There was a possibility Riddle would ask for clarification, but Harry would just have to tell him it wasn't important. Riddle didn't need to know about the Horcruxes or the prophecy.

"Because I survived the killing curse when I was just an infant, the wizarding world had deemed me their saviour. So when the second war started, they expected me to play a big role in Voldemort's defeat. The Headmaster also felt I had a big role, and for reasons I don't think is necessary to indulge – the Headmaster had a plan involving my death in order to defeat Voldemort once and for all."

Harry fixed Riddle with a hard gaze, waiting for him to demand answers or to start threatening Harry until he spilled all his secrets. So it was with some surprise, that Riddle continued to look at Harry calmly as he waited to hear the rest of what Harry had to say.

"I found out about the Headmasters plans for me. Since I knew I was no longer safe at Hogwarts, I contacted my godfathers and they helped me to escape. For several months we moved from safe house to safe house, doing research and trying to do our own part to end the war in a way that didn't depend on my death.

"Four nights ago, one of my godfathers found out that our location was compromised and we left. As we were leaving, we walked into an ambush and discovered that we had been betrayed. Both the Headmaster's and Voldemort's people were waiting for us and a battle began. Wards had been put up preventing us from escaping, so we tried running for the edges of the wards while the two opposing sides fought each other.

"When I had almost reached the edge of the wards the Headmaster appeared." His voice was starting to shake and Harry had to take a deep breath and make a conscious effort to control himself and keep his voice steady. He wasn't going to start freaking out over his 'murder' now of all places. Especially not in front of Riddle. "He stopped me from crossing the wards and restrained me before hitting me with the killing curse."

Harry sighed as he rubbed his sweaty hands on his trousers. "I'm not sure what happened exactly, but it was like the killing curse was some massive hand that had closed around my chest and it just kept pushing and _pushing_ me into this darkness. The pushing had stopped suddenly and I felt as though a hook had attached itself to my side and started pulling me in a different direction."

Harry finally met Riddle's gaze, since he had been careful to look at the floor during the majority of the time he told Riddle about his world. Although Riddle's face was still a perfectly calm mask, the man's dark green eyes were laced with a barely hidden emotion Harry wasn't able to decipher.

"I suddenly had all of my senses come back to me. When I opened my eyes I saw Firenze and thought there was a chance that I was in the Forbidden Forest, but I wasn't sure how that was possible. Then, when I saw you," Harry felt his breath increase momentarily as he remembered the fear and shock that had flooded his system at the time, "I knew you only as the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord who had tried killing me several times since I was an infant. So of course, I attacked as quickly as I could in the hopes it would buy me time to get away and try to find my godfathers to figure out what was going on."

"So you're saying that after you were hit with the killing curse, it transported you to this world instead of killing you." Riddle affirmed, after a few moments of silence after Harry had finished his story.

Harry nodded. "Yeah I guess so. I have no clue how or why that happened though."

Riddle's eyes seemed to move back and forth as though reading invisible text and thinking rapidly. "I'm not sure how either, but I have an idea of where to start research that could possibly give us some answers and maybe even send you back to your own world."

Harry nodded as he thought of going back home. Although it was obvious there wasn't a Voldemort in this world, he couldn't leave his godfathers to deal with the situation themselves. They had given Harry everything in order to protect him and keep him safe. If there was a possibility of him being able to go back, he'd take it in a heart beat. He owed Sirius and Remus that much.

"Who was the Headmaster who killed you?" Riddle asked, startling Harry out of his thoughts at the question he most definitely wasn't expecting.

After deciding there couldn't be any negative repercussions to answering, Harry said "Albus Dumbledore."

Riddle hummed. "Dumbledore is a very renowned alchemist in our world. He's been involved in politics far to much for me to think he'd ever take the Headmaster position but I guess I was wrong. I knew in the past he had considered becoming the Transfiguration Professor but decided to partner with Nicolas Flamel to continue researching and experimenting."

Harry, glad at the change of topic and that Riddle wasn't asking too many questions regarding his own world and the circumstances of the war, asked eagerly "Who was the Headmaster before you?"

"Technically, Armando Dippet. When he retired Galatea Merrythought became the interim Headmistress until a permanent replacement could be found. Of course, it took nearly five years since Hogwarts hadn't been happy with other applicants for the position." Riddle smiled bemusedly at this.

Harry just furrowed his brow in confusion. What did he mean that 'Hogwarts' didn't like the other applicants? Harry always thought that whoever was Deputy would become the new Headmaster or Headmistress when the previous one passed away or retired. Before Harry could voice these questions, Riddle suddenly stood up from his seat and straightened his robes. It reminded Harry of how tall Riddle actually was. Voldemort was tall too, now that Harry thought about it, but the Dark Lord's height had always been overshadowed by his wraith-like, serpentine frame and the burning intensity of his red eyes.

"Well, Mr. Potter, I'm glad I was able to have this chat with you." Turning, Riddle grabbed the moleskin pouch and wand to present them to Harry. "I think it is safe to return these to you."

Harry grabbed his wand quickly, smiling at the feeling of warmth spreading through his arm at being reunited with his wand, before grabbing his moleskin pouch and slipping it over his head to hang around his neck.

"Now that you are fully healed, we need to figure out your living arrangements for the rest of the summer holidays." Riddle reached into his robe and pulled out a role of parchment. "You'll need to fill this out so we can get you registered as a citizen of magical Britain. For now, you are allowed to wander throughout the castle while I finish a few administrative duties needing my attention now that the school year has ended. I will send for you in a few hours to meet me in the Headmasters office to get everything else sorted out."

Harry nodded and took the parchment held in Riddle's hand. He was pleasantly surprised at the absence of pain and burning in his scar when his skin had brushed Riddle's briefly.

"You may get something to eat in the Great Hall, if you wish. All I ask is that you stay within the castle walls. Until we get a new identity for you sorted out, it would be best if you remained unseen by any outsiders who might catch a glimpse of you and start asking questions. If someone else were to discover that you are from another world, the consequences would be very dire."

Harry felt a small shudder run through his spine as he remembered what the Ministry had tried to do to Harry once Voldemort had exposed himself by breaking his followers out of Azkaban. If Harry hadn't been informed about Dumbledore's plans, he could very well have ended up under the Unspeakables' custody as they performed a myriad of experiments on him in an attempt to understand the connection Harry had with Voldemort through his scar and how Harry was able to survive the killing curse as an infant.

Harry could very well imagine there being several individuals in _this_ Ministry wanting to experiment on him as well if they discovered his particular circumstances.

"If you need anything, just ask a portrait for assistance or call for a house elf." Riddle stated before waving his wand once more, causing Harry to flinch momentarily, so as to remove the wards surrounding the hospital bed and curtains. It made Harry think he wouldn't have been able to run very far even if he had been able to escape his restraints when he first awoke.

With a polite nod of his head, Riddle pulled the curtain aside and strode through the Hospital Wing. Harry didn't move until he heard Riddle's footsteps fade away as the elder wizard stepped through the infirmary doors and continued down the corridor.

After several moments, once he was sure he was alone, Harry finally shifted to stand from the bed and slip his boots on. Now that he was alone and able to observe his surrounding more, Harry could tell that he was without a doubt in a different Hogwarts than he was used too. Although the Hospital Wing looked fairly identical to the one in his world, Harry could see several small differences as well.

The beds were spread out a bit differently and the cabinets around the room holding different medical supplies and potions held similar items as those cabinets in his world, but were arranged differently as well. One major difference Harry could see were between this infirmary and the one in his world, was a gigantic wooden cupboard that was built flush to the wall right next to the medi-witch's office door. There was a metal bolt keeping the contents of the cabinet locked. In the center of the bolt was a small circle. Harry knew from seeing the same type of locks in Grimmauld Place, the hole in the bolt indicated the only way to open the cabinet was by inserting the tip of an authorized wand through the hole in order to unlock the cabinet. As far as the contents of the cabinet, Harry couldn't even guess. He had seen no such thing in the infirmary of his world.

Timidly at first, Harry walked across the infirmary to peer around the open wooden doors to glance down the corridor. From what he could see, the general structure of Hogwarts' hallways were similar to what he was used too. However, as Harry strode down the hall, he could tell there was an entirely different atmosphere to the castle. Even though the stones and corridors and overall structure was the same, everything had a foreign energy about it Harry couldn't quite understand. The magic of the castle itself seemed different as well. It was very disorienting for Harry to be in such a familiar place but feel so _out of place_ in it as well. It was as though Harry was a first year all over again, looking at the castle for the very first time.

As he made his way to the Great Hall, Harry marveled at how many little differences in detail there were that he never would have noticed before. There were a few portraits that were new, or in different places; some corridors had an extra suit of armor, or statue, or tapestry decorating the stone walls. The rays of sunlight streaming in through the enormous windows of the Great Hall made the space feel twice as big as he was used too. The enchanted ceiling showed billowing clouds moving languidly across the sky.

Harry's footsteps echoed around the room as he headed to the only table left in the room since the house tables had been spelled to lay flush against the walls and out of the way. It made Harry think part of his disorientation was due to the lack of other students bustling around the school. He had never remembered the castle being so quiet before.

Ascending the platform at the far end of the Hall, Harry approached the Head Table as he suddenly became aware of how hungry he really was. Harry knew from the cotton-like feeling of his mouth when he first awoke that he had been fed a few nutritional potions, but nothing worked as well as actual food for proper nourishment.

Once sat, the wood of the table beneath Harry's hands suddenly warmed up significantly, but not enough to burn. Harry closed his eyes, releasing a small gasp as the tension and unease in his body he hadn't been aware of suddenly eased as the warmth from the wood spread through his hands all the way up his arms and to his chest.

The warmth finally dissipated after a few moments. When Harry opened his eyes, he glanced around the vast, empty Great Hall once more only to realize that it felt different once more. It no longer seemed so vast and foreign to Harry. The walls and enchanted ceiling seemed closer together and the atmosphere of the room seemed comforting and safe instead of strange and intimidating.

Harry jumped as a plates of food suddenly appeared on the table, containing many of his favorite meals and desserts and tea for him to choose from. A small smile appeared on his face as he started piling up his plate.

It was as though Hogwarts was welcoming him to his new home.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Finally got this chapter done – it turned out a lot longer than I expected and actually ended up cutting out a huge section that will continue into the next chapter.

Anyway, just so you know, when Harry is referring to his world, he will be referring to it as 'home' for the time being, just to prevent a bit of confusion.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

The parchment Riddle had given him was surprisingly easy to fill out.

After eating lunch and wandering around the castle for a while, Harry had decided it was time to try and get the paperwork over with and headed to the library where he hoped there would be extra ink and quills stocked for him to use like there were at the library back home. He was very happy when he found the stash of extra supplies; it seems not everything had changed.

After having sat himself up in the comfortable corner alcoves, thinking he'd have to spend a good amount of time coming up with answers that wouldn't expose him as a dimension traveler, he had been pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to fill everything out.

The sheet of questions didn't look official in anyway; which he supposed made sense since he couldn't actually register as a new citizen of Magical Britain since he wasn't even born in this world – which made Harry curious how Riddle planned to 'register' him in the first place. All the sheet asked was for his name, date and place of birth, type of wand he had, the age he received said wand (which was a weird question, since Harry thought people were only supposed to get their wands at the age of 11 whether or not they were muggleborns or purebloods) and if he had any chronic medical conditions or allergies.

The only question Harry would've been stumped on, the name – since he couldn't put his full name as a Potter – seemed to be the only question he didn't need to answer. The answer line where he would write his name seemed to be glowing a dull red colour and prevented Harry from writing any answer on the line.

Harry was still wondering about why that was as a chirpy house elf with unusually large ears, who had introduced herself as 'Yibby, young sir, I is being Yibby', escorted Harry towards the Headmaster's office; Yibby skipping the entire way.

Harry noted the Headmaster's office was located on the third floor just like it was at the Hogwarts at home. However, in lieu of a stone gargoyle guarding the entrance, there was a stone dragon instead. Rather than giving a password like Harry expected, Yibby merely snapped her fingers, causing the stone dragon to give a low rumble in it's chest before moving it's massive wings to reveal the revolving staircase.

Yibby bowed to Harry deeply, her nose and ears touching the stone floor, before popping away, leaving Harry to ascend the staircase quickly before the stone dragon got impatient and blocked the way. At reaching the wooden door, Harry knocked, only hesitating for a moment when he had heard an answering 'Come in', before opening the door and stepping through the office.

It was still surreal to Harry that he was entering Riddle's office, instead of running as far away from the man as possible in fear for his life. It was odd to think that Riddle wasn't a Dark Lord but a Headmaster instead.

The Headmaster's office was one of the many fascinating rooms he had seen at Hogwarts. So he remembered several details about it perfectly. This office, although similar in appearance to Dumbledore's office, was also vastly different as well.

Instead of their being multiple trinkets scattered about the room, whistling and emitting soft puffs of smoke; this office was nearly filled to the brim with books. Bookshelves covered nearly every wall space, and the few open wall patches there were, was filled entirely with hanging maps and charts of all sorts. There were still portraits of past Headmaster's and Headmistress's hanging on the upper part of the walls near the ceiling, though Harry was certain a few of the portraits were different than what he had seen at home. He wasn't certain though since he had never studied or memorized the names of past headmaster's like Hermione had so he wasn't able to pinpoint what was different about them. At the time he couldn't care less about such things.

"I hope you didn't have any problems." Riddle asked, bringing Harry's attention from the room around him to the man sitting behind the massive desk.

Harry felt his wand hand clenching into a fist at the sight of Riddle, but forced himself to relax. If this Riddle was going to harm him, he would have done so already.

"No, no problems." Harry answered, forcing a small smile on his face as he stepped further into the office closer to the desk. "This Hogwarts is actually very similar to the one at home."

Riddle indicated for Harry to sit in the dark blue, padded armchair placed in front of the desk. That was different as well, Harry thought idly as he stepped forward, placing the filled out parchment on the desk before sitting down. He was used to the chairs being purple and squashy.

Riddle took the rolled up parchment, flattening it out on his desk before leveling a studying gaze on Harry for several long moments. Harry just met his gaze, feeling his heart pounding in his chest and wondering if he should have run away from Hogwarts – and Riddle – while he had the chance, since he had no idea why Riddle was looking at him in such a way.

"You have two options, Mr. Potter." Riddle finally spoke, finally shifting his unblinking gaze from Harry to remove a self inking quill from one of the drawers of his desk. "You will need a place to stay while you are here – and since I don't know how long it will take, or if it's even possible, to search for a way to send you home – you will need a place to be in long term."

Oh, yes that's right, Harry thought. He couldn't run away because he was in a new world and had absolutely no where else to go.

"The first option is the easiest, as far as creating a background story for you goes. You would be placed in a haven of sorts, for magical youth who are either orphaned or abused. It is called the Magical Youth Sanctuary. It is located in Diagon Alley. You would have shelter, plenty of food, and any other needs you may have met."

"Your second option," Riddle continued, his voice suddenly becoming guarded, "is to tell Charlus and Dorea the truth about your arrival here. You are a Potter and are technically related to them, even if they never had children or grandchildren in this world. I'm sure if you were to choose this option, Charlus and Dorea would be happy to welcome you into their home and name you the Potter Heir."

Harry suddenly understood why Riddle had been acting so guarded. When talking about exposing his real identity to Dorea and Charlus, Riddle had spoken in the same voice he had used when talking about them in the Hospital Wing, when he had informed Harry that James had never been born.

It was very odd, and Harry wasn't sure if he was correct on this, but it seemed as though Riddle was acting so guarded was because he didn't want Dorea to get hurt. It made sense, now that Harry thought about it, for Riddle to be close to the Potters. He hadn't realized it before, but why else would Dorea confide in Riddle and tell him she had planned to name her unborn son 'James' if they weren't close friends?

"It would take a lot more work to create a background story for you with this option since the Potters are very well known Purebloods. We would have to forge a line of parentage from one of the more obscure Potter names on the family tree in order to make a convincing story for your sudden existence."

It was tempting, Harry admitted to himself, to go with the second option. He had always wanted a family and to suddenly appear in a place where his grandparents were still alive was like a dream come true. He could even imagine talking with Charlus and Dorea, telling them stories Harry had heard, about all the adventures James had as a Marauder while in school. He would be able to tell the elder Potters about the son they had loved but had never gotten to raise in this world. He would be able to tell them how James lived his life to the fullest, even though he had died young, protecting his wife and child.

Harry would even be able to show them pictures from the album he kept in his moleskin pouch.

No. Harry shook his head. No, he couldn't do that. When Harry was in the Hospital Wing and briefly thought about what his mothers life could be like, he realized that he wouldn't fit in with this world. In this world, he had never existed in the first place. He couldn't go after the Lily in this world in an attempt to make a connection with the woman who wasn't really his mother. His mother had died protecting him and he would never be able to replace her, never be able to replace that Lily, no matter how many different dimensions he traveled too.

If Harry were to create that connection with Charlus and Dorea, to show them those pictures, and tell them all those stories, and then leave back to his own world...it just...no. No, Harry couldn't do that. It didn't seem right at all.

Swallowing heavily, Harry met Riddle's gaze and said, voice soft. "I...I think it would be better if I took the first option."

Riddle gave Harry a short nod of the head, the elder wizards posture relaxing and the hardness in his eyes disappearing at that proclamation. It seems that Riddle had similar thoughts to Harry's, and was worried that Charlus and Dorea would only end up hurt by introducing Harry into their life.

_If Riddle was so worried about that though_, Harry suddenly thought, _then why had he mentioned it as an option in the first place?_

"The Magical Youth Sanctuary it is then." Riddle confirmed as he finally picked up his quill, writing on the line that had previously been warded, the line asking for a name. It made Harry think the name was somehow dependent upon which option he had chosen, and wondered what Riddle had written down.

Before he could ask, Riddle had rolled the parchment back up before calling out 'Yibby!'. When the house elf popped into the office a second later, Riddle opened up his desk drawer, pulling out a large, thick sealed envelope, before handing both the envelope, and the rolled up parchment to the house elf.

"Please deliver that to Madame Fay as quickly as possible, Yibby." Riddle instructed.

"Yes sir, mister Headmaster, sir. Yibby be delivering right away!" The house elf squeaked excitedly before popping away.

"Madame Fay is the Head Matron of MYS." Riddle explained at Harry's inquiring look. "Once she receives that, she will send someone to retrieve you to get you settled over at the sanctuary."

"The envelope I sent along to Madame Fay included a short background story I pulled together that will explain your arrival at MYS." Riddle continued as he settled himself back down into his chair. "I stated that you are a wizard who grew up in the muggle world under the tutelage of your guardian who recently passed away."

Harry blinked at that blankly for a moment, before shaking his head and focusing on the matter at hand. It seemed Riddle was already several steps ahead and had prepared for the eventuality that Harry would choose to go to MYS instead of the Potters.

"Who did you say was my guardian?" Harry asked with a small frown as he thought of a few inconsistencies. "And why would I be taught by my guardian instead of coming to Hogwarts or attending some other wizarding school? Isn't that a bit unusual?"

Riddle shook his head. "No. Although it is uncommon, it isn't unheard of. There are a few young witches and wizards who are instructed in the magical arts at home instead of attending Hogwarts. Some have better reasons than others for choosing home education. The reason I put that you were home schooled, while living in the muggle world, was to give you a plausible reason for being ignorant of certain things in this world. Since I don't know what is, or isn't different between the two worlds, I thought this would be the safest route to go, since I am unable to prepare you in advance. That way, if you had any questions, or didn't understand something that was common knowledge in this world, it wouldn't seem suspicious for you to be lacking in that knowledge. One of the problems of having students home schooled, is that not all the parents or guardians are diligent in keeping up with their tutelage."

"As for your guardian, I didn't list a specific name, since it isn't important for MYS to know. All they need to know is that you no longer have a living relative to take care of you."

Harry supposed all of that made sense. He knew that in the muggle world, students were allowed to be home schooled. He didn't know if magical youth were home schooled back 'home' but he supposed it would make sense if it were allowed. He was raised by the Dursleys, so home schooling would never have been an option for him in the first place – since they were Muggles – so of course Harry had never even thought to ask about such things when he first entered the wizarding world.

It was also guaranteed that there _would_ be vast differences between Harry's world and this one, and it was nearly impossible to predict what those differences could be. Hell, Harry knew he never would have imaged Riddle becoming a Headmaster instead of Dark Lord. That was a _huge_ difference. Who's to say there wouldn't be other major divergences?

"That seems reasonable." Harry conceded with a small nod.

"Now, from the date of birth you wrote on the parchment, you would be starting your sixth year this coming term, is that correct?"

Harry nodded.

"Alright then, I will be making sure to send you your school information within the next few days so we can get your schedule set up. We would go over it now, but I have a staff meeting to attend too with the other Professors before they leave the castle for the holiday. I will have a house elf escort you down to the carriages so you can make your way down to the gates of Hogsmeade, where the MYS representative will arrive to retrieve you."

As he spoke, Riddle had stood up from his chair, grabbing a large planner into his hands before calling for a house elf to escort Harry out of the castle.

"I will contact you once I am able to spend more time on figuring out a way to transport you back home. If you have questions feel free to send me a letter at anytime."

"Alright," Harry agreed, standing as he was being ushered out of the office by the house elf. Turning around to face Riddle, who was gathering more folders and ledgers he probably needed for the staff meeting, Harry only hesitated for a moment before saying. "Thank you...for the help, and all."

Riddle looked at Harry with slight surprise at those words. Harry was a little surprised at himself, but Harry knew that surprise was from the fact that it was _Riddle_ who was doing all this to help him settle into this new world. When Harry first entered the office he thought it was going to be difficult to remind himself that this Riddle wasn't Voldemort, but was surprised to find it surprisingly easy to think of the man as a Headmaster instead of a Dark Lord. Harry figured the ease between differentiating between the two was largely due to Riddle's appearance, but his personality as well.

Voldemort never would have acted the same as Riddle in this situation. Harry knew he would be killed or tortured immediately if Riddle really were the Dark Lord.

So, Harry felt it necessary to express his gratitude and acknowledge that he realized how much Riddle was doing for him – even if Harry still felt a bit hesitant about doing so.

"I wouldn't have any idea what to do once I arrived here...so...thanks for helping me figure this all out, even though you didn't have to do any of this in the first place."

Riddle gave Harry a soft smile. "You are quite welcome, Harry. Though, despite what you think, it is my responsibility to assist you as I was the one who found you when you first arrived in this world. On Hogwarts grounds, no less, which I _am_ Headmaster of."

Harry grinned, saying good bye before following the house elf down the stairs and towards the grounds where the carriages were. It was odd, to hear Riddle call him by his first name, but nice at the same time too, though he wasn't sure why. Harry just knew Riddle could no longer keep calling him 'Mr. Potter'.

It made Harry wonder though, what name Riddle had given him on that form. He couldn't just be 'Harry'. So what was his new last name?

* * *

Remus landed on his knees roughly, jarring them on the dusted wooden floor of the kitchen the portkey had transported him too. Sirius had already transformed back to a man and had proceeded to destroy everything in site; shouting and screaming in rage and grief as pieces of glass and splinters of broken furniture cluttered the floor.

Remus felt cold and numb as he lifted himself off the floor to watch his best friend and lover slam his fists into the walls, feeling detached and unemotional. He was certain he was in shock as his mind was ruthlessly rebelling against the site he had just seen. Never before had he thought he'd be witness to the sight of the emerald green light of the killing curse engulfing Harry. Taking away his godson, his pup.

His wand was still held tightly in his grasp, his knuckles white as he barely managing to keep control over his werewolf strength to keep himself from snapping it in half. The world was slowly flooding back into reality as he remembered the last few, mind numbing moments spent in the forest before grabbing Padfoot and portkeying them to safety.

A howl of rage had echoed in the forest, only to realize the sound had come from him as the howl had ripped painfully from his throat when he realized he was too late to prevent Dumbledore from murdering his pup. A spell had burst from his wand in that moment, the black smoke from the Acid Death Curse engulfing the bearded old man, having been caught off guard at the sight of Harry's body disappearing completely.

Taking advantage of Dumbledore's distraction as the elder wizard waved his wand about hurriedly to dispell the curse, Remus had run for Padfoot. The Animagus still laying in a heap on the forest floor, frozen, having only regained consciousness in time to witness the Headmaster kill his godson.

Remus' breath hitched as he realized there wouldn't be a body. Regret fueled his grief as he realized there was nothing left of Harry in the world. There was no body for him to hold in his arms one last time, that he wouldn't be able to run his hand through Harry's messy, yet soft locks of hair, that there was nothing to bury and grieve over.

Slowly, feeling returned to his limbs, firm awareness of his surroundings finally settling in as his brain started to function once more. Sirius' continuing screams and shouts filtered through his ears once more. Details started to pop up in his mind in striking clarity as the thought of 'there's no body' repeated itself in his mind over and over.

"I'll kill him, I'll kill him, I'll kill him!" Sirius screamed, uncaring over the bloody state of his knuckles as he continued to half heartedly punch the wall, the rage draining along with his adrenaline as grief started to fully set in. "I'll tear his heart out with my bare hands for killing our Pup!"

Sirius sunk to the floor, burying his face in his bloody hands as a strangled sob escaped his throat.

Remus finally found the strength to move his arm as he flung his wand wide, clearing a space on the floor of debris before he started burning an image into the wood. The same image he had seen burned into the forest floor where Harry's body should have lain.

Sirius finally looked up at the smell of burnt wood filled the air, shoulders shaking as silent sobs wracked his frame, watching the pattern Remus was forming taking shape on the floor of the destroyed kitchen.

"R-Remy?" Sirius asked, as he looked in slight confusion at the rectangular shape on the floor, the rectangle boarded with an enormous amount of runes Sirius had no hope of understanding.

Remus, however, did understand the runes. Some of them at least. And with that understanding, a small flare of hope sparked in his grief stricken heart.

Meeting Sirius' red rimmed and teary midnight blue gaze, Remus whispered, almost afraid speaking too loudly would crush the small flare of hope. "I...I think Harry's still alive."

* * *

Harry diligently stared out over the Hogwarts grounds as the carriage steadily moved him closer to the gates of Hogsmeade; doing his best to ignore the presence of the creatures pulling the carriage. If there was one thing Harry was hoping was different in this world, would be the Thestrals. Seeing the creatures brought up memories he would rather forget.

Wasn't there some sort of spell they could use on the carriages to propel them without the creatures? Harry thought idly as he looked out over the grounds and noting there wasn't a Whomping Willow smashing birds that got too close to it's massive branches. This part of the grounds looked positively bare without such a massive tree taking up the space. Despite the glaring omission, the grounds looked just like they did at home, Giant Squid and all.

The gates to Hogsmeade swung open automatically as the carriage got closer to the entrance. A woman, looking to be in her mid to late twenties, with mouse brown hair and smiling, hazel eyes waited on the side of the cobblestone road. With a wave of her wand, the carriage stopped once it reached her, either uncaring or unaware of the Thestrals that flapped their leathery wings in agitation at the abrupt halt.

"You must be Harry." The witch greeted, as Harry stepped down from the carriage cautiously. Despite Harry's hesitation the woman continued to smile at him broadly as she held her hand out for a shake.

"The names Mafalda Hopkirk, but please, call me Maffy." The witch gushed as she shook his hand before steering them further down the cobblestone road. "I'm one of the matrons that works at the Sanctuary. I'm only there Wednesday's and Friday's and I spend the rest of my time working at the offices of the Department of Wizarding Child Services. I usually work with the younger children at the Sanctuary, but don't hesitate to approach me if you have any questions at all once we get you settled in, okay?"

Harry could only nod as the witch spoke in one full breath. The woman, although very nice was slightly intimidating to Harry with her bubbly and open personality. Although Harry was certain he had never seen this woman back home, he couldn't help but think there was something familiar about her name.

"Madame Fay said you grew up around Muggles and that this would be your first time going through wizarding towns. I'd love to give you a tour of Hogsmeade – I know all the interesting historical facts about the town – unfortunately there won't be enough time as we need to get you over to Diagon Alley and settled into the Sanctuary." Mafalda, er, Maffy rambled on. Ending her long winded speech with a bit of a mournful tone at not having the time to drag Harry around all day.

It was the slightly dejected, yet chipper tone Mafalda spoke with that finally triggered the memory where Harry knew her name from. There had been two occasions where Harry had seen her name, and that was the summers before his 2nd and 5th year. Mafalda Hopkins had been the witch working with the Improper Use of Magic Office.

It was always her voice, happy and cheerful, yet somehow mournful at the same time that spoke as the magically spelled parchment read out the warnings of Harry's underage magic use that cemented the name in his memory. It wasn't hard to remember, after all, of the one and only time he had received a letter telling him he had been expelled from Hogwarts, his only home. Even though the expulsion had been retracted, it was still a shock that was ingrained into his memory.

"Ms. Hopkins – " Harry began.

"Please, call me Maffy." The witch insisted with a soft pat of her hand on Harry's arm.

"Er, Maffy." Harry amended as they started approaching the buildings of Hogsmeade and the end of the Hogwarts wards. "Would you mind telling me more about the Sanctuary? I've never heard of it before and was wondering what it would mean for me to be going there."

"You've never heard of the Sanctuary?" Maffy asked with mild confusion, before shrugging once more, the smile returning to her lips. "Well, its a relatively new establishment that was introduced to the Ministry a little over 40 years ago. When muggleborns and their parents were merging with the Wizarding World, a lot of problems cropped up with muggle parents mistreating or outright disowning their magical child –"

"What do you mean merging?" Harry cut in. "Are you saying there are Muggles in the Wizarding World?"

Maffy merely beamed at the interruption, apparently not caring at all and happy to answer all of his questions. "You really haven't been in the wizarding world before have you? When I say merging, I'm only speaking of the parents to muggleborn witches and wizards that are discovered. As soon as a muggleborn child displays their first bout of accidental magic, a ministry official from Wizarding Child Services – the department I work in – visits the home and explains the magical world to the child and the parents. The parents are then relocated to a Muggle District within the Wizarding World."

"And the Sanctuary came about from this merge?" Harry asked, a small frown on his face.

"Oh yes. Generally, all muggleborn children are required to be relocated to the Magical World – with a few exceptions of course – like you for example. The majority of Muggle parents don't actually mind the merge. They still live in an area that's relatively muggle and are still able to continue their jobs and lives in the Muggle world. Even have extended family and friends over to their house without breaking the Statute of Secrecy; while having their child grow up and attend magical schools with other witches and wizards their age." Maffy informed excitedly as Harry thought of a billion new questions he wanted to ask at this revelation.

"Unfortunately, there are a few Muggle parents who aren't so accepting of the idea." Maffy stated as her never ending cheerfulness become much more subdued. "Oh, here we are." Maffy exclaimed, bouncing back to her full happy mood as they reached the boundaries of the wards.

"Let's continue this once we reach Diagon Alley. We've got to get you a few supplies before taking you over to the Sanctuary."

"Supplies? But, Maffy I don't have any – "

"Hold on tight!" Maffy warned before grasping Harry's hand in her own before Disapparating on the spot.

Harry nearly lost his stomach once arriving, having never liked Apparition in the first place wasn't helped by the unexpected sensation of being squeezed through a narrow tube.

"Well then, what was I saying?" Maffy asked, completely unbothered with the mode of travel, thus not needing to pause in her commentary while Harry looked about the Alley in absolute shock and wonderment.

The town he had landed in was nothing like the Diagon Alley back in his world. With eyes wide and mouth hanging open, Harry looked down the positively huge cobblestone street bordered by dozens of shops – the vast majority of which he had never seen before. Not only where there more shops, the whole Alley just seemed to be _bigger_ than he ever thought it could be. There were numerous amounts of smaller roads branching out from the main to other parts of the Alley that had never existed back 'home'.

His absolute amazement over the difference just made his story of growing up completely in the Muggle World all that more believable. Harry knew he wasn't a very good actor – or a liar, for that matter – so it was good his reaction was completely genuine.

Harry took all of this in, while Maffy continued to yammer on and guide Harry down the street and through the crowds. The whole experience made Harry feel like a first year again, coming to Diagon to get his school supplies for the first time.

"Oh right, we were talking about the Muggles. Well, as I was saying, some of the Muggles weren't too happy about their children having magic. I've experienced this first hand as I've gone on a few introductory house calls myself. Some of the Muggles actually called their children 'devils' and 'unnatural freaks', absolutely refusing to accept the fact that magic was real and actually a _good_ thing. Can you imagine?"

Despite the fascination Harry was having with the new Diagon Alley and the current demonstration introducing a new Quidditch broom being held down the street, Harry was listening to Maffy, and did, in fact, completely believe muggles would do such thing. All he had to do was remember the Dursleys, after all.

"How could Muggles _not_ like magic?" Maffy continued on. "I even heard that a parent tried calling a muggle priest to perform an exorcism on their child, thinking it would rid them of their magic. Which is completely ridiculous – muggles don't know how to perform exorcisms properly in the first place! How can they when they don't have any wands?"

Maffy finally steered them off the road as they reached a tall, black fronted building on the side of the road. Harry only managed to get a glimpse of the sign before Maffy rushed him in.

They had arrived at 'Madame Malkins Fine Clothes for All Occasions'. Harry felt himself unexpectedly relaxing once they entered the store, feeling happy to be in another place he was familiar with. All the differences in this world was frankly starting to overwhelm him a bit.

From between the racks of clothing containing wizard and muggle attire, a dark haired witch with a strand of measuring tape hanging about her shoulders, stepped up and welcomed them to the store.

"Ah, Maffy, got another one for me today?" The witch stated, shaking Maffy's hand while gracing Harry with a soft, gentle smile.

"Yes, Madame Malkin, this is Harry. He's being moved to the Sanctuary today."

"Well, it's nice to meet you young man." Madame Malkin greeted.

Harry was barely able to contain his shock as he forced a small smile on his face. This Madame Malkin looked to be at least 15 years younger than the woman in the world back home. He briefly wondered if it was Madame Malkin's daughter, but figured if she was, then the witch was too _old_ to be the daughter. It made Harry start to wonder if people in this world were also born in different years. He supposed it was plausible, but then again, that didn't explain Riddle's appearance – who would have to be much older than 30 if he had been Headmaster for that long. It didn't explain Dorea for that matter, now that Harry thought about it. Yes, the Dorea he met in the Hospital Wing looked older than the painting of the teenage Dorea he'd seen on the tapestry, but she didn't look as old as she should have. He wasn't exactly sure of her year of birth but was pretty sure she should be well into her 70's or 80's by now.

Harry shook his head as he let himself be pulled over to the dressing rooms to get changed and measured. This is why he didn't like paying attention to details like this. He probably wouldn't have noticed the younger appearances if the differences hadn't been so drastically obvious. All this speculation over the littlest of things was starting to give him a headache.

"Maffy," Harry whispered as he stood on small little stool, trying to ignore the magical measuring tape wrapping itself around his body for measurements. "I tried telling you earlier, but I don't have any gold. I really don't need any – "

Maffy laughed heartily, interrupting Harry's discrete whispering and drawing the attention of a few witches and wizards in the shop that had been perusing the clothing racks and fabric samples.

"Oh, Harry you are so delightfully obtuse." Maffy grinned, slapping Harry on the arm playfully. Harry scrunched his face up in annoyance.

"You really don't know all that much do you? I keep forgetting you grew up with Muggles. I find it terribly amusing..." Maffy mused as she settled herself into a small chair to wait while Madame Malkin began pinning the fabric of an outer robe to Harry's frame. Harry just huffed in exasperation, not really knowing yet if Maffy was simply teasing him good-naturedly or was just being obnoxious. This is why he preferred to avoid overly bubbly people – they tended to make him nervous and embarrassed at the same time.

"Your clothing expenses are covered by the Sanctuary, dear. All your needs are. That includes school supplies, clothing, as well as food – you'll get three meals a day at least." Maffy finally explained after tempering her amusement for the moment. "I know the house-elfs are happy to provide snacks and other treats throughout the day if you ask politely. I honestly don't know how you weren't aware of all this. Madame Fay informed me Lord Riddle was the one to transition you to the Sanctuary after all."

"You've met Lord Riddle?" Madame Malkin inquired, lifting her head up which caused her to accidentally jab Harry in the side with a needle. "Oh! Sorry about that, young man."

"It's fine." Harry mumbled as he tried to hold still and keep from getting jabbed with needles any further.

"I've just always wondered what Lord Riddle was like. And you've actually spoken with him, is that correct? Not just seen him around the castle or heard him at the Welcoming Feast as Headmaster? Oh of course you haven't – you grew up with Muggles didn't you? Most students who've spoken to him it's only because they've gotten into mischief and had to explain themselves to the Headmaster – that would hardly be a pleasant first meeting." Madame Malkin rambled as she continued to fit Harry's clothes. "I've made several of his formal robes and even make his house-elf uniforms, though I've never met him before personally. Is he as handsome, tall and brilliant as people say?" Madame Malkin inquired, peering up at Harry curiously; talking about Riddle like a daydreaming house-wife. It reminded Harry eerily of Mrs. Weasley fawning over Gilderoy Lockhart.

"Um..."

"Of course he is!" Maffy interjected, saving Harry from having to answer the awkward question. "He looks better than the pictures in the Prophet. They don't do him any justice at all!"

"So you've met him as well?"

"Briefly. He comes by the Sanctuary occasionally to visit Madame Fay. She helped Lord Riddle open the Sanctuary, you know."

"Is that so?"

"Yep! It's why he made her Head Matron."

"What?" Harry interrupted a little loudly, feeling shocked and uncomfortable at the same time. He really didn't like that he was stuck in the middle of two women gossiping about _Riddle_ of all people.

"You're saying he started the Sanctuary?" Harry asked incredulously, certain he had heard wrong. "You're saying that _Riddle_ started the Sanctuary?"

Maffy gave Harry the most scandalized look he'd ever seen. "That's _Lord_ Riddle, young man. It'll do you well to remember that. Lord Riddle is a highly revered member of our society! He's practically a celebrity! Of course he started the Sanctuary! How could you not know that?"

"I thought I heard you say he grew up with the Muggles, Maffy." Madame Malkin pointed out.

"Well just because he lived with Muggles doesn't mean he lived under a rock! He's still a wizard for Merlin's sake!"

"But why would he start the Sanctuary?" Harry asked, ignoring the witch's other comments. "That doesn't make any sense."

And it didn't make any sense. Harry would've never imagined Riddle opening a Sanctuary in a thousand years or in a thousand worlds. Didn't Riddle grow up in an orphanage? Isn't this Sanctuary basically the same thing? Harry was sure Riddle hated the orphanage, why on earth would he _open_ one himself?

Maffy sighed as she slumped back in her chair. "Goodness, there really is a lot we need to get you caught up on Harry." Maffy stated, sounding as though she were speaking to herself.

"It's as I was telling you. Some Muggle parents treated their magical child horribly. Riddle started the Sanctuary so those muggleborn children would have a safe haven to go too. No child deserves to be ridiculed or scorned or abused by their family. He also started the Sanctuary so _all_ magical children would have a safe place to go to – that includes purebloods and halfbloods as well, not just muggleborns. It's been a long time since the wizarding world has been at war, but that doesn't mean there aren't still orphans that need looking after."

"Well, we're all done." Madame Malkin proclaimed as she indicated for Harry to step down from the stool. "I'll have your clothes finished and bagged in a few moments."

Harry considered Maffy's words as he waited. It was definitely shocking to hear that Riddle had started the Sanctuary, but that didn't stop Harry from thinking it was a good idea. When he learned that Riddle and other orphans in his world grew up in muggle orphanages, Harry had wondered why they couldn't still grow up in the wizarding world. Why would they have to wait until they received their Hogwarts letter to learn about their true nature? It made Harry wonder if there was even an orphanage, or sanctuary, or whatever people wanted to call it, in the wizarding world back 'home'. Considering Harry had never heard of such a place, he was beginning to think there wasn't.

It made Harry glad that there was such a place in this dimension though. He would have nowhere to go if there wasn't. Even if it shocked Harry, he couldn't find any fault in Riddle for opening such a place – even if Harry didn't completely understand the man's motivations to do so.

Riddle really was different from Voldemort. This Riddle seemed different than the dark lord before he even _became_ the dark lord. Harry was astounded at how difficult it seemed to be for him to see Riddle as such a different person.

"He really did that?" Harry asked softly, turning to face Maffy fully as she shrunk his bag of clothes and put it in her pocket.

Maffy smiled. "Yes, he did. Lord Riddle is one of the most influential and respected wizards of the century. The Sanctuary is only one of the many reasons why he is held in such high esteem."

The sun was starting to set as they finally stepped back out into Diagon Alley. The street wasn't nearly as crowded as it was earlier, but there was still a sizable amount of witches and wizards languidly strolling the streets. A few groups heading towards floo stations that littered the Alley, and street vendors started packing up their wares in preparation to head home for the rest of the night.

"So what do you think of Diagon Alley?" Maffy questioned as she noticed Harry peering out on the street curiously.

"It's a lot bigger than I expected." Harry answered truthfully.

"It has been expanding rapidly. It's nearly tripled in size the past 100 years from what I've heard. There used to be just this main street. Now, Diagon is split into three different districts, with Gringotts at the very center. This main street is referred to as the Business District or simply Diagon since it holds all the Alleys original shops." Maffy explained as they started to reach a junction in the main cobblestone road.

Harry could see the large Gringott's building straight ahead. Instead of the Goblin Bank taking up the entire end of Diagon Alley though, it seemed to have a few pathways branching off from it. What was most surprising, was the presence of another large structure to the right of the bank. It was nearly the size of the bank itself.

As they approached, Maffy pointed to the left, where Harry knew Knockturn Alley would be in the Diagon Alley back home. "That leads to the Fairie District." Maffy explained. She then pointed to the large, white building to the right of Gringotts. "And that's the Ministry Archive, which acts pretty much as a glorified library."

"Fairie District?" Harry questioned, looking more closely down the road to the left, not really having much interest in the library. That had always been Hermione's area of expertise.

Harry chest clenched at the thought of the brilliant witch and quickly distracted himself.

He was surprised to see a lot of witches and wizards still wondering about this part of Diagon. It seemed the Fairie District was a popular place to be. The floo stations were spitting out more groups of people and the street seemed to get more crowded while the Business District continued to empty further as the sun continued to set.

He could see several people going in and out of the buildings, the entire street being lit by multi-coloured fairie lights that started to flicker to life, floating listlessly high up in the air. Harry guessed that explained why it was called the 'Fairie' District. It certainly looked a lot different than Knockturn did.

"It's more of the entertainment area of Diagon. There are many pubs, restaurants and clubs in the Fairie District. You'll even come across a large theatre house the further down you go. Just so you're aware, Madame Fay doesn't like for the teens in the Sanctuary to go to the Fairie District. There are a few establishments warded to keep those underage from entering but there are ways past those wards. So I recommend you be careful what you do there, lest Madame Fay keep you locked in the Sanctuary the rest of the summer." Maffy warned as she gave Harry a pointed look.

Harry nodded in understanding, surprised to hear that he'd be allowed to wander at all and not be cooped up in the Sanctuary the rest of the summer. It was definitely a pleasant surprise. This place already sounded a million times better than the Dursleys, and he hasn't even seen the Sanctuary yet.

Maffy continued to lead them on past Gringotts. They took a small pathway that led them around the massive bank. Once they reached the end of the path, they walked through a wall of green and purple vines that revealed another massive street. The back of Gringotts, the Ministry Archive and a long stretching wall of hanging vines separated this part from the Business and Fairie District.

"This is the Residential District. The right side leads to the Muggle Residences. You'll know you've reached it when you come across the Discretionary Line. You won't be able to pass unless you have your wand sheathed and any magical objects hidden from sight. Even though the muggles living on the street know of magic, there is a possibility there will be visiting muggle relatives or friends who _don't_ know about magic."

Indeed, Harry could see a few Muggle looking houses just on the edge of his view. There were even a few muggle street lights that had turned on and he could see cars parked in a few driveways. Harry could even briefly make out the glare of television screens shining through the windows. It was amazing. Harry never thought he'd see muggles and wizards living in such close proximity with one another – well, without there being generous use of muggle repelling charms, of course. It was definitely mind boggling for him to see. It would almost be like having the Dursley's just down the street from the Burrow – which would be a disaster, actually. Harry was just glad these Muggle houses didn't look completely identical to one another like they did on Privet Drive.

"On the left there are many wizarding homes as well as a wizarding primary school, daycare, and a few parks. There's even a decent sized Quidditch Pitch at the end of the street. I personally don't care much for the sport but I know how much the men enjoy it."

Harry grinned at that, clasping the moleskin pouch that hung around his neck. He was glad that he still had his Firebolt and would have the chance to use it during the summer.

They turned to the left and walked further down the street. They passed many peculiar wizarding homes that had many types of trees and hedges spread between them. Some of the homes were painted multiple colours while a few of them were a drab brown colour. You could tell some of them were newer while there many that looked old – some poorly taken care of. There were a few homes that looked like the roof was so sunken in, it looked like it was going to collapse in on the inhabitants at any moment.

Many of the homes had gardens containing a multitude of plants used in common potions while a few of them held rarer plants that Harry knew he'd have to stay away from. There was a particular house that looked to have Devil's Snare growing in a dark corner of the garden. As they walked, they had to side step a pair of Garden Gnomes that had tumbled out onto the sidewalk. They seemed to be having a small scuffle over a piece of bark that was covered in sap.

The majority of the houses also had a small owlery attached to the roofs. There were a few kneazles prowling under them and meowing as they peered upward trying to catch sight of the multitude of owls they contained.

Harry absolutely loved it. The only wizarding households he'd ever seen had been the Burrow, Grimmauld Place and a few of the safe houses he'd been too over the past few months. He had always wanted to see more wizarding homes and it seems he'd finally have that opportunity.

The further they walked, the closer they got to a few small parks and bigger buildings Harry assumed was the primary school or daycare. In the distance, he could make out large Quidditch hoops where the Quidditch Pitch looked to be set up.

"And this is the Sanctuary." Maffy beamed while gesturing to a large brick building surrounded by a high cast iron fence that was lined with tall green hedges. The front of the gate held a polished wooden sign saying 'Magical Youth Sanctuary' in black, flowing script.

Maffy stepped forward and placed her palm against the sign. As soon as she touched it the large iron gate swung open to reveal a cobblestone path.

"Only the youth, matrons and approved visitors are allowed access to the building." Maffy explained. "As a security precaution of course."

The short path led them to the entrances double cherry wood doors. On either side of the path was a small stretch of grass that was littered with a few toys here and there and what looked to be a small child's missing shoe.

Harry felt his heart fluttering slightly in anxiety as Maffy led him through the doors. They stepped into what looked to be a small reception area. There were a few lit candelabras and fairie lights around the room to brighten the area. On the left corner of the room was an unlit fireplace. A few couches and armchairs were spread in front of the fireplace with a small coffee table that held a few magazines and a tea service. Straight ahead there was a door that led into the Sanctuary further, and off to the doors right was a desk.

A pale, dark aired wizard dressed in dark red robes sat behind the desk. The wizard stood up upon their arrival and graced them with a small smile.

"Hello, Maffy. Is this the young man you were sent to retrieve?"

"Yes, Tharen. This is Harry. We just got back from getting him a set of clothes from Madame Malkin."

Tharen stepped out behind his desk and held his hand out to greet Harry. "Hello Harry. I'm Tharen Sprout. Welcome to the Sanctuary."

Harry smiled nervously at the man and hesitantly shook his hand in greeting. He wondered if he was related to Professor Sprout but honestly couldn't see any resemblance between the two.

"Madame Fay is waiting for you in her office." Tharen said to Maffy. "She said she'd like you to stick around a while longer and help the younger children with dinner and getting them to bed. Felicity had to leave early and Martha said she'd appreciate some assistance."

Maffy smiled softly. "Of course. Thank you Tharen."

Harry walked quietly behind Maffy as she led him past the desk and through the ebony door. The moment the door cracked open Harry could hear varying sounds of activities coming from the other side of the door. Harry clenched his hands nervously and shoved them into his pockets.

Just on the other side of the door was a short hallway that opened up to a huge room that looked to be a play area. There were a few sets of chairs, tables and couches spread throughout the room. On the far right of the room, between two couches sat a large toy chest, that was currently opened; a small toy dragon was currently flying out of the box and blowing puffs of multicoloured smoke from its maw.

Several large, plush rugs of varying colours were scattered atop the wooden floorboards. There were several children of varying ages dispersed about the room engaged in different activities, playing with toys or games such as gobstones, chess or exploding snap. Harry could see a few other games as well that he had never seen before. Upon their entrance, a few of the children looked up at them in curiosity for a few moments before quickly turning their attention back to whatever they were playing.

The youngest child Harry could see looked to be about the age of 4 or 5, wearing footed pajamas and was currently being led by a young, strawberry blonde haired matron through a side door that Harry could see led into another hallway. The oldest youth looked to be about Harry's age. The young wizard in question had short light brown hair and was currently slouched over the table as he studied the wizards chess set he was playing. The boy he was playing against looked to be around 11 years old.

On the other side of the room was another short hallway that had a large ivory and red coloured door at the end, with a few other doors on either side of the hall. Maffy led Harry across the play room – skillfully maneuvering around the children playing on the floor – to this hallway and to the door located on the far right.

Harry could immediately tell it was an office as the door had a built-in window that showed a large mahogany desk topped with neatly stacked parchments. The corner of the desk held a large, black spinning top that rotated slowly on it's tip.

The older witch sitting behind the desk had long flowing locks of black hair that was interspersed with a few streaks of grey. Harry assumed this woman was the Head Matron.

Maffy knocked lightly on the door, where it automatically swung open.

"Madame Fay, I just returned with Harry." Maffy announced as she stepped into the room. Harry followed behind a little slowly, still feeling nervous and unsure what he thought about this place.

Madame Fay stood up and walked around the desk. Her movements were elegant and calm, posture straight and head held high in confidence and self assurance. She stood in front of Harry, her pale blue eyes observing him steadily for a few moments. Harry met her gaze before looking away, not knowing why she was looking at him in such a way.

He nearly jumped when he felt Madame Fay place a hand on his shoulder, even though the touch was soft and barely there.

"Welcome to the Magical Youth Sanctuary, Harry." Madame Fay greeted, voice steady and soft. She removed her hand from his shoulder and pivoted slightly to face Maffy.

"Thank you for getting him Maffy. I'll cover the rest from here. I think Martha was just putting the younger children to bed."

"I'll go help her before heading home for the evening then." Maffy stated as she reached into her robe pocket and pulled out the shrunken bag of the clothes they had purchased from Madame Malkin and handing them over to the Head Matron. "See you later Harry." Maffy beamed before stepping out of the office, leaving Harry alone with the older witch.

While Harry fidgeted in his spot, shifting his weight from one foot to another, Madame Fay simply moved back to her desk and sat down, indicating for Harry to sit as well.

Once Harry was sitting, Madame Fay pulled out a large packet envelope from one of the file drawers behind her desk. Handing the large packet to Harry, she said "This contains the information guide about the Sanctuary as well as a list of rules that need to be followed. One rule you may not be familiar with from your time living amongst muggles and being home schooled, is that all underage witches and wizards are not allowed to use their wands during the summer holiday. So before we leave this office, I will need you to hand me your wand. I will keep it here," Madame Fay indicated to the lacquered box that was attached to the desk right next to the black spinning top. "If ever you need to use your wand, simply discuss the matter with me. I will return the wands to their owners the morning the Hogwarts students return to school."

Harry gulped silently and pressed his hand against his wand that was attached to his right forearm. He just got it back, and was reluctant to give it away again. How would he protect himself if he needed too? Even if those underage weren't allowed to use their wand, it was better to break a rule than end up severely injured or dead, wasn't it?

Then again, Harry didn't have to worry about being murdered in this world. There wasn't any Dark Lord, or Death Eaters, or members of the Order of the Flaming Chicken that he had to worry about. But if there was something to worry about, Harry still had the magical knife Sirius had given him if he needed something to protect himself with.

So, it was with _very_ great reluctance, that Harry finally nodded his head in agreement while Madame Fay had sat waiting for a response with her soft, yet unrelenting gaze.

"This packet also contains a library card, and your identification card. The ID will reflect that you are a resident of MYS and under Ministry custody, so the authorities will know who to contact in case of an emergency. There will also be information about Sponsor's and information about your Gringott's Vault and Key if, or when, your Sponsor decides to open an account for you."

"What's a Sponsor?" Harry asked nervously.

He couldn't read Madame Fay yet and wasn't certain if she was the type that was okay with questions or not. She sort of reminded him of Professor McGonagall except she seemed...softer than the stern Professor in some ways, yet seemed colder in others. It was very confusing to Harry so he didn't know how to behave with Madame Fay. But Professor McGonagall had always been annoyed with the majority of questions if she felt the student had been able to get an answer on their own, so he thought it was possible for Madame Fay to be the same way.

Instead, Madame Fay didn't give any indication of annoyance like McGonagall would or shining amusement the way Maffy did. She merely answered his question with the soft and steady voice she had spoken with so far.

"Every magical youth in the Sanctuary gets a Sponsor. A Sponsor is a sort of mentor to the youth, and helps guide them and give advice through their adolescence and helps transition them to adulthood. The Sponsor usually assists with covering certain expenses such as clothing and school supplies and generally donates money to the Sanctuary to help cover the costs of food and the buildings upkeep.

"It is also common practice for the youth to be given their Sponsors last name. So when I introduce you to the other children tonight, their last names will more than likely bear the name of their Sponsor, instead of the surname they were born with. There will be a more thorough explanation in the packet, but I think that will suffice for now until you are able to peruse the packet."

"Do you have any questions at the moment?"

"No...well I do, but I think they'll be answered in the packet like you said." Harry stated, still a little nervous. He honestly just wanted to be alone for a little bit so he would have a chance to process everything on his own. Too much had happened today and he needed to give his brain a chance to catch up.

"Then I will show you to where your room is. After, I will take you to the dining hall and introduce you to the other youth. The younger children are most likely in bed at the moment but I'm sure they'll be happy to meet you in the morning. They are always happy to see a new face around here."

Madame Fay stood up from desk, Harry following suit while pulling out his wand (he kept his holster though) and handed it to the Head Matron. The woman placed the wand carefully into the lacquered box, where Harry could see contained several other wands as well, before she led them out the door.

Once out the door, Madame Fay pointed to the large red and ivory door at the end of the hall. "That leads to the dining hall. It is accessible at all hours of the day, but the posted meal times will be in your packet. The rest of the doors in this hallway lead to a bathroom and a small library and study area."

She then led him to the left where the play area was located. Harry noticed that it was emptier than when he first arrived and that only the teenagers remained around the area lounging on the couches and armchairs.

On the wall opposite the couches and toy chest, were two more doors. The door closest to him was the one he saw the young boy being led away by the Matron. The other door that Madame Fay led him too, opened up to show a carpeted staircase.

"This room leads upstairs where the older youth reside. The other door leads to the younger children's living quarters." Madame Fay explained as she led Harry up the stairs.

There were torches on either side of the wall so as to completely illuminate the stairway. At the top of the stairs, a carpeted hallway that lay horizontal to the stairway showed a series of doors. Some of the doors held drawings or enchanted letters to personalize and show who resided in each room.

Madame Fay led them left down the hallway and took Harry to one of the few plain doors that was on the left side of the hall.

"This will be your room for the remainder of the summer. You will be sharing with Malcolm Johnson since we don't have room to give each individual their own space. He turned 14 about a week ago so there isn't much of an age difference between the two of you."

Harry stepped into the room and was surprised by the size of it. From the space between the doors he figured they would be really small and cramped. However it was obvious the rooms had expansion charms on them. This room had two full sized four posters that had white sheets and pillow cases and a dark blue comforter, while the beds curtains were black. The walls were white too but hardly bare. It seemed this other bloke, Malcolm had already dominated the right half of the room. The right wall, and part of the ceiling were covered in posters, pictures and sports banners. Harry was a little disheartened to notice a Slytherin banner as well but supposed it didn't have to matter. A school trunk was sitting at the end of the boys rumpled bed, opened and looking only partially unpacked. A stack of books sat on the small desk and a tangled mess of coat hangers hung in the wardrobe.

Madame Fay took Harry's bag of clothes, unshrunk them and placed them on the bed. Harry placed the packet on the small but sturdy desk on his side of the room before looking out the window that was located opposite the door and between the two beds.

It peered out into a massive back yard that had a fenced off area that held the garden and shed. The rest of the yard had a sand pit, a patch of grass that looked transfigured to make it bouncy, a huge net filled with all sorts of magical toys, and animated statues of a unicorn, baby dragon, hippogriff, kneazle, toad and a owl that moved at random moments around the yard. The unicorn nudging the net of toys with its horn.

Harry thought it was amazing.

"As you will see in your packet, curfew for you older teens is 11 pm." Madame Fay spoke softly, who had no problems patiently waiting for Harry to look out the window and observe his surroundings. "I don't care if you're still up in the common area or reading in your room after that time, just as long as you're quiet so the other children won't be disturbed. The curfew is set so we know you're back at the Sanctuary and are safe. So long as you keep to the curfew, and let the witch or wizard at the reception desk – usually its Tharen – know where you're headed, then you are free to wander and explore the Alley as you please."

"Yes ma'm, I understand." Harry answered, turning from the window to face the Head Matron.

"Very well then, let's get you down to the dining hall and introduced to everyone."

Harry followed silently as they headed back down the hall. Harry was still nervous – especially about being introduced to everyone – but felt much better after seeing the place he'll be sleeping. It made the place seem more like a home now than a strange, large building that held numerous amounts of children he didn't even know. He could actually see himself settling in after a few days once he got his bearings and adjusted to the situation.

Once they reached the top of the stairs Harry could hear someone shouting in the play area below. From what he heard, it didn't seem like everyone was so eager to welcome him to the Sanctuary.

"I've told you Malcolm, there isn't enough space for you to have your own room." A stern female voice stated.

"But I've always had my own room!" An angry adolescent male voice shouted. Harry could just image the glare the teen was probably sporting.

"Keep your voice down Malcolm." That same female voice said forcefully. "The younger kids just went to bed. Now go get some dinner. I will not discuss this with you further."

"I will not keep my voice down! Not until I have _my_ room back to myself! Why can't he move to Jason's room? This is his last summer here, so – "

By then, Madame Fay had opened the door fully at the bottom of the stairs and stepped through into the common room, Harry following right behind. The same teenage boy Harry had seen playing chess earlier, with the short light brown hair and his dark brown eyes glaring heatedly, his hands clenched into fists as he argued with the same strawberry blonde haired Matron Harry had seen earlier. He assumed she was Martha since she was the only other Matron he had seen.

Malcolm had fallen silent when Madame Fay had entered, but now directed his glare from Martha to Harry.

"Malcolm, you will go and sit in my office quietly until I can speak with you." Madame Fay ordered, her voice still steady and calm but now held a trace of hardness.

"Now, Malcolm." Madame Fay ordered, voice sharper when Malcolm still hadn't moved.

With a huff, Malcolm unclenched his fists and stomped off towards the Head Matrons office.

"Don't be too bothered with him, Harry." Madame Fay assured, her voice returning to it's usual softness as she led him to the dining hall once she heard her office door had been slammed shut. "I'm afraid I've spoiled him by letting him have his own room for so many years. I didn't think it would be such a problem since he shares a dorm with several boys at Hogwarts. I'm sure he'll adjust eventually."

Harry merely gave a short nod of his head. Not really sharing Madame Fay's confidence in Malcolm's change of attitude but deciding it was best not to argue with her. If Harry had survived with Dudley for so many years, he knew he'd be able to handle Malcolm without any problems.

Taking a deep breath, Harry braced himself as he walked through the door and into the dining hall. There were several round wooden tables scattered throughout the room. Harry saw a few plates of food pop into existence onto the tables out of nowhere and assumed it was because of house-elves like at Hogwarts.

Every one of the teens currently eating had immediately turned their attention to Madame Fay once she entered. Harry could tell everyone here at the Sanctuary had a lot of respect for Madame Fay. Even though she was soft spoken she had a strong presence about her, and, like McGonagall, wouldn't stand for any disrespect or disobedience.

"Good evening everyone. For those of you who just returned from Hogwarts, I'm glad to have you back. This place is positively empty without you. I'd like you to welcome a new addition to our family here at the Sanctuary. He has grown up in the muggle world under the tutelage of his now deceased guardian. So I ask that you do all you can to make him feel welcome and help him adjust to life in the wizarding world."

Madame Fay then turned toward Harry, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Please welcome, Harry Riddle."

Even though Harry was aware of a few people saying their welcome's to Harry and introducing themselves, all Harry could truly focus on was the sudden sound of blood pounding through his ears as his heart picked up speed; anger flooding his veins.

His new name was Harry _Riddle_? _Riddle_?He could hardly believe it.

Not only did Riddle _know_ Harry's tragic encounters with Voldemort, and the multiple times the dark lord had tried to kill him and the fact that he _had_ killed his parents; that man still thought it was a good idea to give him his last name? After all the history Harry had with the evil man, Riddle didn't think he'd have a problem with having his _name?_ It certainly explained why Riddle didn't let him see what name he had written on the parchment! Never mind the fact that Riddle didn't explain anything about the Sanctuary, or about Sponsors, or have the _decency_ to ask if he was alright with all of this!

It didn't matter that Riddle was a bloody Headmaster now instead of a Dark Lord. It didn't matter that Riddle had opened this blasted Sanctuary. It didn't matter that Riddle had _helped_ – Harry used that term sarcastically, actually disgusted with himself now that he had even _thanked_ the man – the point was, no matter what world he was in,_ Riddle was still a bloody bastard!_

He could hardly keep his hands from shaking as he sat down at a table, not even seeing the food that suddenly appeared before him. He could hear people speaking, but didn't actually register their faces or voices as he stewed in a haze of shock and boiling anger.

"Riddle? Really? I can't believe you got Riddle to be your Sponsor! I've never heard of him doing that before –"

"You've actually spoken with Riddle? That's amazing! – "

"Madame Fay I think something's wrong with the new kid – "

"Is it possible he didn't even know who his Sponsor was?"

"That seems highly unlikely, considering who the man is – "

"Alright, everyone give Harry some space. He's obviously had a bit of a shock."

Harry heard Madame Fay's voice cut in from all the chatter as he automatically kept shoving food in his mouth, trying to be done with eating as quickly as possible before he _hexed_ someone! All Harry wanted to do was yell at Riddle and they just wanted to hear how great the man was! Blast him!

"He doesn't look shocked to me, if anything he looks like he's going to spontaneously combust – "

"That's enough, Leanne." Madame Fay scolded. "Leave the poor boy alone. You can pester him tomorrow after he's had some time to adjust."

Harry felt Madame Fay rest a calming hand on his shoulder as he stood up from the table. He knew she wanted to talk to him, but frankly he didn't want to do anymore talking.

Walking through the small group of teens that had gathered around him in their excitement and awe of his new last name, Harry just walked briskly out of the dining hall and through the common room. His boots thudded loudly on the stairs as he took them two at a time in his desperation to reach his room.

Harry wasn't going to let Riddle get away with this.

* * *

A/N: Well, I hoped you enjoyed it! There are a few OC's in this story, but don't worry, there will be plenty of canon characters making an appearance soon.

Please review and look out for a new chapter. I'm probably going to post another one before working on 'Halo' and 'Dream or Memory' again.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy :) This chapter was beta'd by Krysania - thank you for looking over this!

Also, the last section has very light smut in it...so be warned if you're offended by that. Although, if you were I don't understand why you'd read this anyway since it IS slash...so yeah :)

* * *

Chapter 3

Harry plunked down on his small desk chair and hurriedly tore open the packet envelope Madame Fay had given him. He messily dumped all the contents out onto the desk and rifled through them until he found a small booklet entitled 'All About Sponsors – Youth's Edition'. Desperately, he poured over the book in a way he never had with a piece of literature before.

All Harry knew was that he was a lot more interested in learning about Sponsors than he was earlier. He wanted to know all it entailed and what it would mean for him – especially since Riddle was his Sponsor now. If there was a way for Harry to get a new Sponsor – or figure out a way to go without one at all, since he hardly thought it was necessary for him to have one in the first place – he would make sure to do whatever was necessary to get rid of his new, horrifying surname.

_'The Sponsor program was introduced the same year the Magical Youth Sanctuary was opened in 1950 by Lord Tom Marvolo Riddle. The Sponsor program was intended to ensure all magical youth in the Sanctuary have a constant adult presence throughout their education and development, and to hopefully have that support continue afterward into their adult lives. Sponsors have been likened to Magical Guardians since they share similar responsibilities, but are in fact more suited to the role of Mentor.'_

Harry scoffed. He didn't need any sort of mentor in his life. He had once considered Dumbledore a mentor of sorts, but that had changed of course. Yes, he had Remus and Sirius helping him back home after everything went to hell during his fifth year, but he had always been on his own before that. He didn't know why that had to change just because he was in a new world.

Skipping the few introductory paragraphs that continued on with the history and passing legislation for MYS and the Sponsor program, he read on once he found the list of responsibilities and powers the Sponsors had pertaining to the youth under their 'guidance'.

_'Sponsors not only assist the Sanctuary financially to ensure their youth is provided with appropriate clothing, food, school supplies etc., they also guide the youth on making their future career choice and assist in making sure they receive the required OWLs and NEWTs needed for their chosen –'_

Harry once again scoffed at what he was reading and turned the page over, not even bothering to finish that paragraph.

He couldn't even imagine Riddle talking to him and asking him what he wanted to do with his life. It was completely laughable. Even though he knew intellectually that Riddle _wasn't_ Voldemort, he couldn't help but image the bald, snake-faced, red-eyed Dark Lord sitting on his throne and petting Nagini; demanding that Harry tell him what he wanted to do after Hogwarts, then hitting Harry with a _'Crucio!'_ when Harry jokingly suggested that he wanted to be a professional Quidditch player.

_'Any spending money the youth wishes to have is directly up to the Sponsor to provide since the Sanctuary doesn't have those funds to give to the youth. It is up to the Sponsor to decide if they wish to simply impart an occasional allowance, or open a vault at Gringotts for the youth to use. _

_If the Sponsor decides to open an account for the youth, the Sponsor can either choose to give the youth full or restricted access to the vault. If the youth in question is given full access, the Sponsor will hand over the Vault Key to use as desired. If the account is set up with restricted access, the youth will receive a Gringott's Money Pouch that will allow the youth to withdraw a limited amount of galleons each week. (Limit will be determined by the Sponsor)_

_It is the right of the Sponsor to withdraw the privilege of vault usage at anytime and for any reason._

_The Sponsor will also be the one to provide a signature in situations where parental consent is needed, such as: Participating in certain events or clubs at school, attend Hogsmeade on assigned Hogsmeade weekends, spending more than 3 days at friends' residence during school breaks, obtaining Apparition License, obtaining temporary employment during the summer holidays, etc._

_However, permission to leave the country, permission for international portkey use, permission for underage youth to marry and/or bond, and all requests for emancipation require direct permission and review with the Ministry's Department of Wizarding Child Services._

_It is the right of the Sponsor to withdraw permission for these privileges at anytime and for any reason.'_

Harry couldn't believe it. Not only would he have to depend on Riddle for permission to even go to Hogsmeade, he wouldn't even be able to go to the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer or get anything from Honeydukes unless Riddle decided to give him an allowance! What was worse was Harry couldn't even get a job to earn his own money without Riddle's permission!

Even if Riddle allowed Harry his own vault with some spending money and gave permission to go to Hogsmeade, this booklet said Riddle was within his rights to take those away at any time! Granted, as Headmaster, Riddle already had the right to withdraw a student's privilege to go to Hogsmeade, whether or not they had a parent or guardians signature. It was everything else that Riddle now controlled that really concerned Harry.

Although Harry wasn't very used to any sort of adult guidance in his life, he did understand that a lot of this was actually normal responsibilities parents and guardians had. He knew Ron and Hermione received all spending money (even if it wasn't much) directly from their parents. Whereas Harry had grown up with the Dursleys never receiving any sort of spending money at all. The only time he received money in the Dursley household was when they sent him to the store to get groceries, and he 'better return with exact change and a receipt or else, boy!'.

So when Harry found out he was a wizard and had inherited the Potter vaults, he suddenly had a vast amount of galleons at his disposal to do with as he pleased. Even then, Harry hadn't splurged or wasted any of the galleons his parents left for him. He got just enough money to get his school supplies, and any galleons he had left over he saved for the occasional trip to Hogsmeade and getting Christmas gifts for his friends. If, at the end of the school year, he still had remaining galleons left, he saved it until the next school year to go towards new school supplies – not even bothering to convert it to muggle currency since he knew he'd never have the opportunity to use it during the summer anyway.

So it wasn't that Harry wasn't upset that he didn't have money to buy whatever he wanted, since he would be provided all his needs of food, clothing and shelter by the Sanctuary; he was upset because he no longer had that control to himself. He no longer had the power to make those decisions and had to depend on someone else to make them for him – a fact that Harry was entirely uncomfortable with. The Dursleys had those same powers over Harry for 10 years before going to Hogwarts, and they had never been generous to Harry with that power. And now, after five years of providing for his own needs he suddenly had another adult taking that away from him – and that person just happened to be Riddle.

Even though Harry didn't have any reason not to trust Riddle – especially for all he's done to help Harry so far – it was the fact that Riddle was a Dark Lord back home that made Harry so wary and distrustful of the man. Even though Riddle isn't a Dark Lord in this world, doesn't the fact that he _is_ a Dark Lord in his world mean he has the potential to still become one? Maybe Riddle was just procrastinating on the whole 'world domination' thing, Harry mused, unlike his counterpart who became a Dark Lord and gathered as many followers as soon as possible.

It was a ludicrous notion to think that was possible – especially when considering Riddle's age now – but it was still very disconcerting to Harry. Not even Remus or Sirius had that much control over Harry's life or finances like Riddle now has. When Remus had taken him away from Hogwarts at the very beginning of winter break, Harry had almost immediately been found missing. It didn't take very long after that for Dumbledore to figure out that Harry had learned of his plans and that the 'Boy-Who-Lived' had left Hogwarts of his own free will – taking his support for Dumbledore along with him. Immediately, Harry had become one of the Ministry's Most Wanted Wizards and his vaults had been frozen, so he and Remus had no monetary funds for their travels except for the little they already had on their person. So even if Remus had wanted to control Harry's use of galleons, the werewolf wouldn't have been able to in the first place.

When they had arrived at the wolf pack – even though Harry was considered Remus' Pup and therefore his responsibility – Harry hunted and took turns with pack chores just like everyone else. Everyone pitched in and did the job the Alpha assigned to them without any fuss unless they wanted to spend the day without any food or water and showing the Alpha submission as punishment for laziness. So even though Harry was only considered a 'Pup', he pitched in and provided for their needs just as much as everyone else in the pack did. Harry wasn't just depending on someone to meet his needs. Harry didn't need to trust any of them to provide his food or fear that they would withhold it and starve him for no good reason at all – like the Dursleys did.

The one thing Remus had any say over Harry was when they practiced duelling or when Harry was taught new spells and defensive and offensive techniques. If Harry didn't listen to Remus' instruction or practice new spells without supervision, Remus would take away Harry's wand, make him show submission, then force him to read boring textbooks for hours or days until he felt Harry deserved to have his wand back. It was a simple thing Remus controlled and had rules about, but Remus also had those rules for very good reasons.

What control Remus, or even Alpha Tragar, had over Harry wasn't anything like what Riddle had control over now. Yes, Riddle had helped Harry when he arrived in this world, even when Harry had attacked him without any provocation. Riddle had still given Harry medical assistance and figured out where Harry had come from. The man had even explained everything to Harry and allowed Harry to explain himself as well instead of just throwing him to the Aurors. Riddle had even allowed Harry to choose if he wanted to live with the Potters or not. And if all of that wasn't enough, Riddle had helped Harry get a new identity and promised to find a way to send Harry back home.

At the same time though...Riddle hadn't told Harry anything about Sponsors. He hadn't told Harry that he would get one the moment he became a ward of the Sanctuary. Riddle had deliberately withheld information from him, leaving Harry to find out on his own that Riddle was his Sponsor and now held all this control over Harry's life.

It made Harry wonder if there was anything else Riddle was keeping from him.

So even though Riddle had helped him, he had also deceived him. And the only reason Harry could think why Riddle would do that was because the man _knew_ that Harry wouldn't like the idea of Riddle being his Sponsor. How could he not know? Riddle knew about Harry's past with Voldemort – an _extremely_ edited version of his past – but still. Even if Riddle wasn't ridiculously smart, an idiot would understand that it wouldn't be a good idea for Riddle to so forcefully tie himself to Harry in this way – especially without getting any of Harry's input on the matter.

So why had Riddle done this? Harry had no idea. He was still angry over the whole thing but was also very confused. When Harry was at Hogwarts, Riddle had done nothing to make Harry think he was any sort of threat. The wizard was a Headmaster who had started a magical orphanage for Merlin's sake! Harry had also been reassured by the fact that his scar didn't even give a slight twinge in the man's presence – surely that counted for something, right? And then Riddle had to turn around and act like a bloody Slytherin.

So was Riddle to be trusted or not?

Harry growled in frustrated confusion, tugging on his hair sharply as he continued to skim through the pamphlet. A lot of it went into the fact that many of the younger children ended up getting adopted by their Sponsor just a few months after arriving at the Sanctuary. The idea had horrified Harry for a moment when he thought about Riddle trying to adopt him, but quickly settled down when he read that youth had a say in whether they wanted to be adopted or not. Not that he thought Riddle had any reason to adopt him, especially since the man knew Harry would be leaving this world as soon as possible. Despite that, Harry couldn't help but thank Merlin for small mercies.

At least he had a say in _something_.

The booklet continued on giving success stories of Sponsors adopting orphans and raising them to be productive members of society, as well as giving statistics that even those youth that didn't get adopted stayed in frequent contact with their Sponsors throughout their adult life. The booklet was basically praising the program and showing how successful it was and how brilliant Lord Riddle was to create such a magnificent program.

It just made Harry gag.

Yes, a part of him knew it was a good thing to have such a good working system in place – much better than the ones Muggles had, that's for sure – but it made Harry ill thinking of being so chummy with Riddle after he was such a bastard and gave Harry his last name. Harry wasn't going to allow Riddle to stay his Sponsor, let alone keep in contact with the man for years to come. Harry supposed it would ruin the Ministry's statistics on the success of the program – but it would also show how much of a prat Riddle _really_ was and stop all this ridiculous praising and worshiping of the wizard. Good.

Flipping a few pages, Harry skimmed the words quickly looking for anything that mentioned on how to change Sponsors or go without. With his luck, the information he needed the most would be at the very end of the book.

A certain phrase caught Harry's eyes as he skimmed, and ended up flipping back a page to read. There were a few paragraphs listing communication guidelines between youth and Sponsor. It said Sponsors of younger youth were supposed to visit the child in person and write (if they are old enough to read and write) at least once a week. Sponsors of youth ages 11 and above were required to write at least twice a week and visit the youth in person at least once a month during summer holidays. While the youth is at Hogwarts the Sponsors are required to correspond with the youth regularly throughout the school year. Because of the amount of corresponding done between Sponsor and youth, and to encourage further communication between the two, they each received twin journals spelled with a Protean Charm. The Ministry was hoping the convenience of these journals, instead of depending on owls, would encourage them to correspond more than the required amount and steadily form a more lasting bond.

It was the phrase 'Protean Charm' that had gotten Harry's attention at first. Harry had learned all about the charm from Hermione when they had planned to start their own defense class – since Umbridge was an abysmal teacher – and use the charm to securely pass information between members. The planning had all been for nothing though since Harry had to flee the castle before they could even recruit members to join the group.

Setting the booklet face down so he didn't lose his spot, Harry rifled through the packets other contents he had scattered across his desk as he searched for the journal. There was a small pamphlet about Sanctuary rules and guidelines that Harry ignored for the moment. There were two other, smaller, enclosed envelopes as well. Ripping one of the envelopes open revealed two cards, a small piece of parchment, and a black wallet that looked to be made of cheap dragon hide.

Picking up one of the cards, Harry noted that even though it was made of parchment, it felt thick and smooth as though it were muggle plastic or laminate. In the middle of the card was a design showing an open book with a large purple M in the middle of it. In small text under the logo were the words 'Ministry Archive Library Pass', and directly under that, in larger script was the name 'Harry Riddle.' Harry scowled at the name, flipping it over so he didn't have to see it. On the back was a small script stating that with this pass, Harry would be allowed to check out two books in the main level of the Ministry Archive every week.

Picking up the second card, Harry was immediately blinded by a small flash of light the moment he attempted to look at it. Once the black spots vanished from his vision, Harry could see that it was his identification card. Apparently the flash indicated that his picture was taken, as he could see a small picture of himself in the upper left hand corner of the card.

The picture was awful.

It showed Harry's thin face with bags under his eyes, his hair messier than ever and his complexion was unusually pale and washed out. It looked like he had been trampled by a hippogriff. And because it was a wizarding photo, his face was scrunching up in the most awful way as the flash of light blinded him. Harry figured traveling into a different dimension left him more physically wary than he thought.

Harry scowled again when he has saw his name listed as 'Harry Riddle' once more – really hoping he'd be able to change that soon. The card also listed that he was a ward of the Sanctuary and that his Sponsor was Lord Tom Marvolo Riddle, that his wand was holly with a phoenix feather core and that he acquired it at the age of 11, as well as listing his place and date of birth and that he had no medical conditions or allergies. At least Harry now knew what that parchment he had filled out at Hogwarts was for.

After setting the two cards down, Harry picked up the small piece of parchment, groaning when he read the contents. The parchment explained the use of the two cards and warned the witch or wizard to be prepared when they picked up the ID card as it would take their picture the moment they first looked at it. Harry would have appreciated knowing that beforehand as he grimaced at the photo on his ID, shoving the two cards in the provided wallet and hoping he never had to show it to anyone.

The second envelope contained the journal he had been searching for. It was emerald green in colour, with his name scribed in the bottom right corner of the cover in black cursive lettering. Again, Harry glared at his new last name but ignored it for the time being as he looked at the small, purple colour velvet pouch and the Never-Out quill that had also been in the envelope. Picking up another small card, Harry learned that the quill would attach itself to the journal so he would never lose it. When he placed the quill on top of the journal, it sunk into the book cover until it looked like it was nothing but a drawing on the cover.

Opening the journal to the first page, Harry felt his heart suddenly start thrumming in his chest as he saw there was something already written in the journal. The elegant writing looked very similar to that of the writing he had seen in the diary his second year.

_I know you're angry, but it's better this way._

_We both know the risks if someone else were to be your Sponsor._

It was Riddle! Harry scrunched his hands into fists as the flare of anger swelled within him as he read the small message again.

Riddle not only admitted that he knew this would upset Harry; the man had gone ahead and became his Sponsor in spite of that knowledge! And if Harry didn't already know that Riddle had no idea as to the events of his second year, he'd be sure that Riddle was mocking him by writing to him in this journal.

The flowing, crisp, confident swoops of Riddle's writing reminded Harry so much of his second year, he almost thought the journal would open up and suck him inside to show him some morbid memory.

Retrieving the quill from the cover, Harry scribbled angrily, not even caring that his penmanship was worse than usual due to his hands shaking as he failed to calm himself down. If Riddle thought he was going to get away with this, he was sorely mistaken!

**Of course I'm angry! Why didn't you tell me anything about Sponsors in the first place? You were the one who started this bloody program so it's not as if you didn't know!**

_Would you have agreed if I did tell you?_

Harry froze slightly in shock, since he hadn't been expecting an immediate response – if he got one in the first place. Then, Harry glared at Riddle's question, not appreciating the man avoiding the issue.

**Of course I wouldn't have agreed – and for very good reason as you know. But that isn't the point! You can't make these sort of decisions without telling me, especially since you knew I wouldn't have agreed to it in the first place!**

_Yes, I did know you wouldn't agree. However, we both know I am the only logical option since I'm the only one who knows about the circumstances of your arrival. So even though I knew it would upset you, I went ahead with the decision because it would be best in the long run to ensure your safety._

**You weren't the only one who knew about it though! Obviously Madame Fay knew and she didn't even inform me about it – just told everyone my name was 'Harry Riddle'. Why else would she keep it to herself unless you told her too? This isn't about you being concerned with my safety. It's deception and nothing more!**

_I requested that Madame Fay keep the knowledge of who your Sponsor was to herself until she had you settled in your room and before she keyed you into the wards. I didn't do this out of deception, but simply because I worried you would run off and disappear once you found out. I admit I have only just met you and wasn't certain you would react in that way, but I felt it was better to take certain precautions just in case._

**How do you know I won't still run off? I can leave whenever I like. I don't have to stay here.**

_I suppose you could, but I feel that is highly unlikely now. If you were going to disappear you would have left already. This is proven by the fact that you decided to stay at the Sanctuary and write to me instead._

Harry growled. He couldn't believe Riddle's arrogance!

**You still should have told me. **

**Even though I wouldn't agree with it doesn't mean I wouldn't have understood, or even agreed to it eventually if you gave me enough time to think about it. You can't just go off making these assumptions about me.**

_You're right. I don't know you so it is possible you would have agreed given time. However, I didn't want to wait too long and risk you being assigned another Sponsor._

**I don't even need a Sponsor! I never wanted one in the first place.**

_Everyone that goes to the Sanctuary gets a Sponsor. It's legally mandated._

**Then I'll make sure you can't be Sponsor! You wouldn't even allow me the chance to agree with this so I'll replace you with someone else. I don't need someone to know my 'circumstances' since I'll be returning home soon anyway.**

_You won't be able to replace me as Sponsor. It's extremely rare for a Sponsor to be replaced. The only way to change a Sponsor is to provide proof that your Sponsor has been neglecting their duties and responsibilities or has otherwise threatened or abused their ward._

_Since I have been a perfect Sponsor so far and haven't harmed you in any way or neglected my duties, you don't have any cause to request my replacement._

_Besides, I'm the only one in this world with the slightest chance of even attempting to return you home. It wouldn't be very smart of you to attack the reputation and social standing of the only person who can help you._

**There! You see what you just did? You just threatened me! I can easily show the Ministry what you've just written and get you replaced. Are you always going to hang this over my head and threaten to stop helping me get home if I don't do exactly what you say?**

_Of course not, I did promise to help you and I always keep my word. My research would be hindered, however, if you started making outrageous allegations against my character. It would severely limit the resources I have at my disposal that are needed if you truly wish to return home._

_I also highly doubt you would show this to the Ministry. How would you explain the context of this conversation, hm? Would you actually tell the Ministry you're a dimension traveler? I sincerely doubt it, considering the consequences of doing such a thing would be horrendous._

_Not that you would be able to show anyone the contents within these journals in the first place. I charmed them myself to ensure nobody but the two of us could read them._

_For your safety, of course._

Harry slammed his quill down before reaching for the Sponsor booklet in a mad search to find out the truth. He wouldn't be surprised if Riddle was lying about the whole thing just to keep him from causing the man any trouble. Harry didn't want Riddle as a Sponsor – especially after this _enlightening_ conversation with the man – and would do whatever is necessary to replace him as Sponsor while showing the world what a prat the man really is.

Nearly tearing the pages as he flipped through them, Harry finally found what he needed. Of course, it was at the very end of the booklet as he suspected. But Harry was mortified by what he read there.

Riddle was right.

All applicants for a Sponsoring License underwent a thorough background check and even provided character references that the Department of Wizarding Child Services interviewed themselves to ensure the absolute safety of all the youth involved – to minimize the risk of abuse or neglect as much as possible. Sponsors and wards also get surprise visits from a representative from the Wizarding Child Services to ensure everything's going as well as it's supposed too.

The only way a youth was assigned another Sponsor was if their Sponsor suddenly died, or became grievously ill and were no longer able to keep up with their responsibilities towards the youth. Otherwise, the youth would have to file an official report to Wizarding Child Services if they felt their Sponsor endangered their life or were neglecting or abusing their role as Sponsor. After the complaint was filed Wizarding Child Services and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement would launch a full investigation, followed by a hearing to determine if a new Sponsor would be assigned.

The booklet said there have only been a few instances of Sponsor's being reassigned due to abuse – otherwise the majority of assigned Sponsors is due to a sudden long term illness or death. And Harry knew there was no way he could accuse Riddle of abuse. Not only because Riddle hasn't actually harmed him in anyway – just because Riddle's a bastard doesn't mean he's abusive – but also due to the fact that everybody seemed to worship the man. If Riddle was abusing Harry, he would to have a shit load of evidence to convince people that his claims were truthful.

What was worse, Harry couldn't even change his last name until he had graduated Hogwarts. Apparently when the Sponsor program was first started it had been an option to keep their original surname no matter their age. But then when certain studies were conducted, it showed that those youth who had their Sponsor's last name ended up keeping in better contact with their Sponsors throughout childhood and were more likely to visit their Sponsors home during the holiday – thus creating a better mentoring bond that continued into adulthood. So the mandate for all youth to have their Sponsors last name had been required since then.

The only exception to this was if the youth was in the Sanctuary due to their parent or guardian serving time in prison, and that parent or guardian had denied permission for their child to have a different last name. So, that obviously wouldn't work for Harry since he didn't have any parents in this world either. His father had never even existed!

Before Harry could even formulate a response to Riddle, to show the man he wasn't intimidated and wouldn't allow the man to bully him if he got it in his head to do so, despite knowing that Riddle had been right in the first place; Harry saw that Riddle had written again.

_The pouch you received is connected to the vault I took the liberty of opening for you. I will deposit some gold into the account tomorrow morning. I think an allowance of 10 galleons a week should be more than sufficient if you desire to explore around the Alley. If there is anything you need that costs more than that, let me know and I'll see what I can do._

_It's getting late, so I suggest you get some sleep. Even though Dorea did an excellent job of healing you, a few more days of rest will ensure you are fully recovered._

Riddle wasn't even worried! Riddle had continued on writing as though the subject was closed and didn't even matter at all. Harry couldn't do anything against Riddle to get a new Sponsor and the man knew it. Even if Harry were able to use the journal as evidence, it would only cause more problems for Harry in the long run and do absolutely nothing to help him return home any faster.

Riddle had been right about that too, but did the man have to be so arrogant about it when he knew Harry completely disagreed with the whole thing?

Harry slammed the journal closed before tossing it in one of the desk drawers. The wall sconces that had been illuminating his desk space had flickered out the moment he stood up from his chair. Using the moon light as a guide, Harry shuffled over to the bed before kicking his boots off.

Pushing the bags of clothes to the end of the bed, Harry plopped down on the mattress and wiggled under the duvet. Malcolm's bed remained empty, and Harry hadn't been disturbed once since he ran to his room in a huff.

Harry didn't know where Malcolm was or when he would be going to bed, but he frankly didn't care. He was honestly glad that he was able to go to bed without having to deal with the upset teen beforehand. Harry already had a lot to deal with today and didn't want to have to add a spoiled teen to his agenda as well.

Even though he had been lucky so far, Harry had no desire to take risks and closed his bed curtains anyway. The thick curtains blocked out the moon light that had filtered in through the window, encasing him in absolute darkness.

* * *

A light wind ruffled Harry's hair as he kicked off from the ground and starting flying languidly around the Quidditch Pitch, attempting to chase away the last remnants of sleep from his mind. The sky was a mixture of purple and orange as the sun started to rise out of the horizon; the Quidditch Hoops casting long shadows over the grassy field.

Harry had a restless sleep his first night at the Sanctuary and ended up waking relatively early due to being strangled as he tossed and turned during the night by the string of the moleskin pouch that he hadn't removed from around his neck the night before. It had taken him a few moments to remember where he was and all that had happened the day before when he had awoken in the hospital wing. Despite his fatigue and desperate wish to get a few more hours of rest, Harry hadn't been able to settle his mind as a mixture of irritation at Riddle and anxiety at his unusual situation filled his mind. Not to mention he wasn't able to relax in the Sanctuary since it was still a new place he hadn't yet grown comfortable with.

When he had pulled his bed curtains open he had been confused about the time since it was still relatively dark out and he had no way of telling the time. There wasn't any sort of clock in the room and he didn't have his wand to cast a Tempus charm. He used to have a wrist watch but that had been broken beyond repair ages ago – things like that didn't last while living with a pack of werewolves.

He had also been a bit disoriented to note the bed across from him was still empty and hadn't looked like it had been slept in at all during the night. He didn't know where Malcolm was or why he wasn't in his room but Harry was once again grateful for the reprieve. He needed time and the solitude to get everything sorted out in his mind since he hadn't had the chance too yesterday. From waking up in Hogwarts, to discovering and seeing this new world and dealing with his so-called 'Sponsor', Harry hadn't had the time to let his mind process any of it.

Knowing he needed more time and solitude, and that he wouldn't get that for long at the Sanctuary since it was nearing morning, Harry had slipped on his boots and walked out the Sanctuary gates, turning right down the cobblestone path towards the Quidditch Pitch Maffy had pointed out to him. He had been worried at first that the gates wouldn't open; thinking he would be locked inside like a prisoner, but was pleasantly surprised when the large gate had opened at his approach before closing itself shut tightly after he had passed through.

Harry had been hesitant at first when reached the field, worried about taking out his broom since he was unsure if the same model existed in this world. The new broom he had seen in Diagon was definitely a different broom from the Firebolt. After of few moments of worrying, Harry had decided if anyone saw him on his broom and asked about it he could just say it was a specially designed flying broom, since it wasn't all that uncommon for witches or wizards to request a unique design to better suit their flying needs.

Now that Harry was fully awake, he started flying through the air faster than before; taking sharp turns and deep dives as he enjoyed the first time he'd been able to fly since leaving Hogwarts to run with Moony, while also flying out all the frustration towards Riddle that was bubbling to the surface again from last night.

Just because Harry was aware that there was nothing he could do about Riddle being his Sponsor, he was still fuming over the whole situation. He had always hated when adults made decisions about his life without letting him have any say or knowledge about it. Dumbledore had done that multiple times without even consulting him, and he had hated it each and every time.

As Harry pushed his broom faster and faster across the pitch until the world started to blur around him, he told himself that he _could_ get rid of Riddle if he went to Charlus and Dorea instead of staying at the Sanctuary. If he was recognized in this world as a legitimate Potter Heir he would have no need of a Sponsor. He was sure that would show Riddle not to be so smug and self assured that Harry couldn't do anything about this. If Harry wanted to find the two remaining Potters and tell them everything Riddle wouldn't be able to stop him.

Harry even started planning as to how he could find them. He had no idea where Potter Manor was though since he had never been to it back home. He didn't even know their Floo address so he couldn't fire call them to request to meet with them. Sending an owl wasn't an option because this wasn't the type of thing you put in a letter. It was a risk that the owl would be intercepted and his true origins being discovered by another person. He supposed he could wander around Diagon Alley each day since there was a chance he could see them on the street, as it was common for witches and wizards to frequent the Alley at least once a week for supplies.

Even as Harry thought these things and went through the possibilities, he couldn't help but feel a small swell of anxiety at the thought of meeting them and becoming their grandson. The thoughts that Harry had when this option had first been introduced to him resurfaced. He thought of telling them stories about James and showing pictures of him and his wife and their newborn son. He thought of telling them how James had died, for they would surely want to know why Harry had grown up an orphan.

As Harry thought this, he knew once again, that he couldn't do that. He couldn't become close to them and give them a glimpse into the son they never had, that they had never raised. He couldn't do all of that and then leave. Because even though Harry would love to be part of their family, to actually have grandparents of his own, he still had Remus and Moony. He still had Ron and Hermione, Neville and Luna and all his other friends he had left behind back home. He could never abandon them to dealing with the war on their own, especially if there was an option for him to go back.

Even though Harry didn't want to become close to Charlus and Dorea for these reasons, he also knew there was something more to it. He was also worried that if he _did_ meet them that they wouldn't want anything to do with him. That they wouldn't see him as a grandson or as part of their family. Even though they were his grandparents back home, they weren't necessarily his grandparents here in this world. They were the counterparts of his real grandparents, and even though they were similar to each other there were still differences in their lives and experiences that could potentially shape and change them into different people. It was the same with Riddle. Even though his counterpart was a Dark Lord, the man's life experiences and choices had led him down a path far different from the Riddle in Harry's world.

Harry supposed he was scared of rejection, but didn't like to admit that to himself. He didn't want to take the risk of rejection being a possibility so it was easier to not give them a chance to try. It was the same with Lily. He knew it was possible she had started her own family, with someone else other than James Potter, because James never existed in this world. It had hurt Harry to think of that being possible because he didn't want to see his mother living her life, with different children and never giving a thought to Harry – never being aware that he had existed, never aware that he had wished his whole childhood that he would be able to see her one day.

So even though meeting with Charlus and Dorea would be a great way to get back at Riddle, Harry couldn't do it. It wasn't the type of thing you do simply to scorn somebody. Harry supposed he could do it if he was more heartless and selfish. Harry supposed he'd even be able to kill Riddle if he were that cruel – since the book did mention death as one of the only ways to be assigned a new Sponsor – but Harry wasn't like that and knew he couldn't even stomach the thought of contemplating such an act. The thought had fled from his mind before it could even fully form itself into an idea.

But just because he couldn't do anything about Riddle being his Sponsor, didn't mean he had to like it. Riddle was required to correspond with him at least twice a week, but that didn't mean Harry had to respond back. The booklet hadn't mentioned any requirement for Harry to reciprocate in kind.

So as Harry pulled out of a Wronski Feint, he decided that he wouldn't respond to Riddle when the man wrote. When Riddle visited him in person, Harry resolved not to say anything or even acknowledge Riddle's presence. He was determined not to give the man anymore power over him than he already had, and if ignoring the man was the only way to achieve it, then that's what he would do.

Before Harry could gain much more height in the air, he heard a loud whistle. Looking down below, Harry could see a figure standing on the edge of the field waving an arm to get his attention. As Harry slowly descended down to the ground, unsure of who this person was, he was able to make out the young man waving to him and vaguely recognized him.

He looked to be fairly tall which made Harry assume he was at least his same age. The boys skin was slightly tanned and his hair was short and dark brown, nearly black in colour. As Harry landed on the ground a few feet away from the other boy, Harry realized that he had seen him in the dining hall last night, but didn't know his name since Harry had been stricken in shock and anger at the time.

"You're an amazing flyer." The other boy said with a big smile on his face as Harry approached. "I'm Jason Wood. We met last night but you probably don't remember. You seemed really out of it after Madame Fay announced your Sponsor."

"Er...yeah." Harry mumbled, not wanting to talk about it. He was relieved when Jason didn't push the topic though, shaking his hand instead.

"I meant it when I said you were an amazing flyer. Oliver would love a chance to meet up with you."

"Oliver?"

"Oliver Wood." Jason clarified. "His parents have been my Sponsor since I arrived at the Sanctuary when I was 8. We've been best mates ever since."

It finally clicked in Harry's mind as he realized Jason's surname was Wood. Of course, he never would've guessed it was Oliver Wood's family, but it was a pleasant surprise all the same.

"So you've heard of him have you? He's been flying with Puddlemere United for the past two years as their Chaser." Jason stated with pride in his voice, confusing Harry's look of revelation as shock or awe.

"Yeah, I've heard of him." Harry responded, relaxing slightly that he was on more familiar territory. "Seems really passionate and serious about his profession."

Jason chuckled. "Oh, he is, trust me. I like how committed he is and that he obviously loves what he's doing, but it gets really old after a while when he deconstructs every single game play half a dozen times."

Harry grinned, happy to hear Oliver was still as obsessive in this world as he was back home. "So, you want to fly around a bit?" Harry asked, really starting to like Jason. That was when he noticed that Jason wasn't holding a broom though.

"I'd love too but it'll have to wait. I actually came out here to get you. Madame Fay was really worried when she didn't see you in bed this morning. She actually started to think you ran off when she couldn't find you until I told her I could see you flying from my bedroom window."

Harry frowned as he was reminded of his conversation with Riddle last night and how confident the man was that he wouldn't run away. "I couldn't really sleep and wanted to be alone for a bit."

"That's understandable." Jason commented with a lopsided smile as they started walking down the road toward the Sanctuary.

"Am I not allowed to be out here? I thought it was fine to leave when the gate opened."

"No, it isn't that you aren't allowed. It's the fact that you left before breakfast or letting someone know where you went off too. You haven't read the Sanctuary rule book yet, have you?" Harry shook his head as he pressed a small notch on his broom that shrunk it down before putting it back inside his moleskin pouch; glad that he was at least able to resize his broom without needing his wand.

As they walked Harry saw a few witches and wizards out in their yards, filling huge tubs with water. Some of them were throwing tools and daggers into the vats of water while others were dunking themselves in the tubs, wearing nothing but very thin white robes that made Harry blush when he realized the water made the material see through. It made Harry wonder why they even bothered wearing those robes in the first place for all the good they did.

It was unusual to see but since Jason didn't seem bothered by it, Harry didn't want to risk asking about what they were doing. It seemed to be a common practice in this world to wash their dishes and bath outdoors on their front lawns...no matter how strange it was. Harry just hoped he wouldn't be forced to do the same. Even though he had been living with werewolves for several months – werewolves who had no problems walking around all day starkers – Harry was still a very private person and didn't like baring his nudity for the world to see.

"Rules say you can't leave the Sanctuary until after breakfast. If you leave before breakfast you have to at least let someone know where you are going. Even after breakfast Madame Fay likes us to let the witch or wizard at reception know where we're going and when we'll be back."

"Oh...I actually remember Madame Fay saying something like that last night." Harry confessed feeling a little abashed. "I guess I just forgot though after she brought me down to dinner. Do you think she's mad about me leaving?" Harry questioned, not wanting to get on the Head Matron's bad side.

"No I don't think so. Not this time anyway since she knows you just arrived at the Sanctuary and need a little time to adjust to everything. I recommend you read through the Sanctuary rule book as soon as possible though." Jason advised as they reached the gate. Harry tried to open it like he had seen Maffy do but it didn't work.

When Jason put his hand on the sign though, the gates swung open easily. "Madame Fay doesn't have you tied with the wards then." Jason said as matter of explanation as they walked through the gate.

"How was I able to leave then?" Harry asked as they stepped through the door. Jason waved at Tharen, who was sitting behind the desk in the reception area sorting through a huge stack of mail. Now that Harry knew about Sponsors, he wondered if Professor Sprout had been Tharen's Sponsor...if Tharen had ever been a ward of the Sanctuary of course. It was an interesting thought.

"Anybody can leave the Sanctuary anytime during the day. The gates are sealed automatically after midnight and only open at around 5 in the morning. It's a security precaution so there aren't intruders during the middle of the night. To get in the Sanctuary it has to be opened by someone keyed into the wards though, no matter what time of day or night it is."

Harry nodded as he stepped through into the common room. He saw Madame Fay waiting for him and left Jason's side as he stepped through to her office. He didn't know how to feel about Madame Fay after she had kept knowledge about his Sponsor to herself. He thought she was a likeable enough woman, but he wasn't so sure now. All he knew was that Madame Fay was extremely loyal to Riddle for her to follow his instructions like that. Harry supposed he should have guessed though since Maffy had said that Madame Fay helped Riddle open the Sanctuary all those years ago, and that it was the reason why she was Head Matron in the first place.

Madame Fay keyed him into the wards by having him touch the still spinning black top that was on the corner of her desk. As he touched it, Madame Fay whispered a few words as it glowed bright blue before it returned to its normal black colour. The Head Matron tried talking to Harry, probably trying to explain her actions last night but Harry hadn't been receptive to conversation at all and she let him leave after a few short minutes.

There were several children of all ages running around the common room, shrieking as they played or heading to the dining hall for breakfast. Harry headed back upstairs and was happy to find the bathroom was right across the hallway from the stairs. He was glad to note that he wouldn't have to shower or bathe outside like he had thought. It did make him wonder what all those witches and wizards were doing outside though.

Harry stopped suddenly as he reached his room, to see Malcolm laying on his bed with a journal in his lap. It looked a lot like the protean journal he had only it was red instead of green.

"Hey." Harry said cautiously, forcing a smile on his face. Malcolm merely looked up from the journal to give a little glare before focusing his attention back to the journal. Harry was glad he didn't do anything more than glare though.

Harry went to his own bed and started sorting through the bags of clothes he had pushed to the end of the bed last night. He opened his wardrobe and started putting everything in, his back tingling as he felt Malcolm staring at him every few seconds or so. Harry just tried to ignore it.

Even though the wardrobe was small, it fit all of the clothing perfectly. He had been given a few sets of day robes and even one formal robe. It wasn't extravagant by any means, but it was still a nice set of formal robes all the same. Harry was glad to note he had been given several articles of muggle clothing as well as a new pair of trainers and a set of pajamas.

After grabbing a set of clothes, Harry ducked out of the room and headed towards the bathroom. It was massive which Harry supposed made sense considering the amount of people that used it. There were several shower stalls and sinks so multiple people could get ready at the same time. There was a boy with dirty blonde hair at one of the sinks gurgling some sort of liquid before spitting it out. The boy grinned at Harry as he walked out. Harry realized it was the boy who had been playing chess with Malcolm last night.

Harry found the towels in the large cabinet that was on the left side of the bathroom, grabbing one before heading into a shower stall. Harry set his clean set of clothes on a small shelf, hanging the towel up on a hook before kicking off his boots and shedding his clothes. He was glad to finally be clean as he suddenly realized how grimy he felt after laying in a hospital wing for four days while wearing the same clothes, then sleeping in the same clothes last night. It didn't help that he had also worked up a sweat flying this morning. Despite all the cleaning charms Dorea had probably used, it wasn't even close to being an actual substitute to a real shower.

As Harry stepped into the stall, he noticed there were three different coloured circles on the tile wall, about the size of his fist. Each circle was labeled as either shampoo, conditioner, or body wash. It was strange but Harry had to remember he was in a wizarding household now and that little things like this would be different. Stepping under the nozzle, the water turned on automatically like it did at Hogwarts, already the perfect temperature to get Harry to relax under the hot stream. He soaked his hair before reaching a hand out and touching the 'conditioner' circle. When nothing happened after a few seconds Harry tried again. Still nothing. Harry placed his hand on the two other circles with the same result. He even starting saying random words like "shampoo" or "activate" or "pour" before he finally gave up. He had no clue how to work them and didn't even know if he was actually doing it wrong or if they had run out or something.

Stepping out of the shower, still dripping wet, Harry retrieved his moleskin pouch and retrieved his bag of toiletries that he had used while living in the Pack, taking out his bottles of conditioner and body wash before returning to the shower. After cleaning himself off quickly, drying off and changing into his new set of clothing, Harry left the shower stall and set about with the rest of his daily ablutions.

As he brushed his hair (even though the attempt was always futile in the end) and brushed his teeth, Harry couldn't stop fidgeting. His clothes felt weird and he couldn't determine why. They fit him well enough. Better than any other clothing he'd had this past year but he couldn't stop adjusting the hem of his shirt or readjusting his trousers. He wouldn't say the material of the clothes were uncomfortable...it was just unfamiliar he guessed. They even smelt different than he was used too. He was used to his clothes smelling like dirt, rain and apple trees from his time in the Pack.

Harry went back and changed into a pair of clothes he kept in his moleskin pouch. The jeans were torn at the knees and slightly baggy on him, and his shirt was faded in colour but it washed Harry with a sense of familiarity and comfort as he could still smell the forest of the Pack on them.

Malcolm had given Harry an odd look as the other teen watched Harry return his new set of clothes to the wardrobe, preferring to wear his boots instead of the new pair of trainers he had received.

Harry headed down to the dining hall and was surprised by all the familiar faces he saw as he actually looked around and noticed everyone this time around. There were many he had seen and even spoken too on occasion back home at Hogwarts. There was Hannah Abbott, sitting at a corner table with a book open, and Lisa Turpin and Leanne sitting at the same table as Jason. He saw a boy who was about 12 years old who also looked very familiar to Harry but he didn't know the name of the boy, having only seen him a few times in Hogwarts' corridors between classes.

"Hello Harry." Lisa Turpin greeted as Harry sat down to join them at their table. A plate of food appeared before him as he sat down and he began to eat.

"So how'd you get Riddle to be your Sponsor?" Leanne asked, leaning forward eagerly. Harry knew Leanne was Katie Bell's best friend back home. She would always join them during Quidditch practices and attend parties held in Gryffindor Tower. Even though she was a Ravenclaw nobody cared if she spent the night in the Tower since she was a pretty likable person. Harry didn't remember her being such an inquisitive person though.

"Leanne, mind your own business." Jason warned, making Leanne roll her eyes.

"I was just curious. Harry seemed upset and I wanted to know why. Who wouldn't want Riddle as their Sponsor?" The last question Leanne directed towards Harry, hoping to get something despite Jason's warning.

"You didn't like it when everyone hassled you when you first arrived at the Sanctuary." Jason pointed out. Leanne frowned before shrugging then sticking her hand out to shake Harry's. Harry blinked as he noticed her fingernails were painted in an absurd amount of different, bright neon colours.

"I'm Leanne Bell. This is Lisa Diggory."

Harry froze as he heard the name Diggory. He didn't like thinking about the graveyard or Cedric. He paled at the thought of potentially seeing Cedric in this world, alive and well, but he forced a smile on his face.

Lisa gave him a small frown but otherwise didn't comment on his reaction.

"So will you join us at the clubs tonight?" Leanne questioned excitedly. "I'm so happy there's another person here old enough to go. You're 16 right? It'll be a blast with the three of us going!"

"Er...no, I'm actually 15. My birthday isn't until July."

"Well as long as you're close to 16 I'm sure Fred and George will still let you in. They aren't real sticklers about the rules. Technically everyone's supposed to be at least 17 years of age to enter their club but..." Leanne shrugged dismissively.

"Who are Fred and George?" Harry questioned excitedly, wondering if she meant the Weasley twins.

"They're the owners of the WWW night club in the Fairie District. Haven't you ever heard of it before?"

"No, I've never been here. I grew up in the Muggle World."

Leanne's jaw dropped. "Oh that's right! That was what Madame Fay said last night didn't she? Well, we'll have to show you all around the Alley. The WWW is one of the best clubs. They make many of their own special effects and drinks and even sell pranks! Isn't that brilliant? I'm so glad to have another person to show around."

"Well what about Hannah over there?" Harry questioned as he indicated to the blonde girl sitting in a corner by herself. "She's old enough to go, right?"

"You've met Hannah?" Lisa questioned.

Harry blushed as he realized his mix up. He'd really have to pay attention to those he's been introduced too or not. He couldn't go around knowing everyone's name if he was going to keep his cover of growing up in the Muggle world straight.

"Yeah...um...I remember her name from last night. Her name _is_ Hannah, right?" Harry stumbled a bit, trying hard to make himself sound aloof. Lisa gave him a sharp look.

"Hannah Longbottom, and she doesn't like to go out much. Or even talk. She's been quiet the moment she stepped foot in the Sanctuary. Doesn't say a word unless it's absolutely necessary." Jason informed as he peered over his shoulder to look at the solitary witch. "We always invite her to come with us but she prefers sitting in the library and reading. I'm surprised she isn't a Ravenclaw with all the reading she's done."

"Ravenclaws don't just sit around reading books all day." Lisa jumped in, sounding a little scorned. "I'm a Ravenclaw and I have a life outside of books."

"Only when you aren't gazing at the stars and pouring over astronomical charts." Leanne teased. "You've skipped out on dancing a few times just to see some planet or other. I'd be surprised if we see you at all this summer what with the new telescope Mr. Diggory gave you for your birthday last week."

"Just because I have other interests than dancing around all night and flirting with strange men, doesn't mean I don't have a life."

"I didn't say that. It makes you less fun though." Leanne pointed out.

"Well then that means I'll be less fun this summer too. I've got an Alchemists Apprenticeship to prepare for." Jason added in as he reached in his shirt to pull out a long gold chain that hung around his neck to show a medallion in the shape of a rune. Harry didn't know what it meant though.

"But that isn't fair!" Leanne proclaimed as she saw the medallion. "I mean, that's good you got accepted as an apprentice, but you're the only one here who's 17 and able to go into Madame Tuntil's Apothecary."

Jason rolled his eyes. "I can still go in there for you Leanne. I'm not going to turn into a hermit. I just won't be able to go out every single night. I may have been accepted as an Apprentice but that's only if I get the required NEWT's."

"How come you're still at the Sanctuary if you're 17?" Harry questioned, feeling a little lost in their conversation.

"I may be 17 but I still have a year left of Hogwarts. I'll stay a ward of the Sanctuary until I finish with my NEWT's. Not that I mind. I don't have any place to go at the moment. I'll get my own flat once I start my Apprenticeship though, which will be nice."

Harry's brow scrunched together at that as he pushed his eggs around his plate with a fork. He hadn't read that in the Sponsor book at all. He supposed he really did have to look at the Sanctuary booklet sooner rather than later.

"So, if you did grow up with Muggles, do you know what Ona is fiddling with over there?" Lisa asked as she pointed out a petite girl who looked about 9 years old, with light brown hair and striking silver eyes; with a screw driver in her hand as she took apart a box next to her breakfast plate. Martha, the matron Harry saw last night, was scolding Ona to not play with toys at the table.

"It's an alarm clock, not a toy." Ona informed Martha with a little sneer, before turning her attention back to taking it apart.

"It's an alarm clock like she said." Harry informed. "How'd she get one anyway?"

"That's an alarm?" Lisa asked curiously. "Why don't muggles just use their beds to wake them instead? Surely that would work better than a tiny box."

Harry frowned, since he didn't understand what she meant by that. As far as he knew witches and wizards used their wands to set an alarm.

"Ona's family, the Macmillan's, have a son named Ernie. He's a Ravenclaw who's always been fascinated with Muggle trinkets. He's taken Muggle Studies every single year since he came to Hogwarts. Ernie fell in love with Ona the moment his parents became her Sponsor. Treats her like his own little sister and always takes her on trips to muggle London and buys her all sorts of strange muggle things for her to experiment with." Jason said with a grin as he watched Ona continue to ignore Martha despite the matron's warnings.

"Yes, it's very sweet and all, but I wish Ernie wouldn't do that." Lisa groused, expanding when she saw Harry's inquisitive look. "Ona is always getting into trouble. She's constantly breaking into Madame Fay's office and taking out confiscated items to play with. She even broke into the wand box last summer so she could experiment on one of her muggle things. It's a total nightmare."

"It isn't as bad as you make it out to be Lisa." Jason said with smirk. "You're just upset because it was your wand she stole last summer. She didn't cause too much harm with it."

"She nearly set the room on fire and scorched my wand!" Lisa exclaimed. "How is that not much harm? I was just glad I was able to get my wand repaired instead of having to replace it."

"I wonder what she's going to do this summer." Leanne contemplated. "I doubt she could get another wand though. Madame Fay warded the hell out of the wand box after Ona's little stint."

"I haven't a clue. As long as she doesn't ruin any of my things then I don't care." Lisa said with a slight smirk on her face as she watched Martha marching Ona out of the dining hall, still scolding the little girl about following rules and having manners.

"So are we all going to the Fairie District tonight?" Leanne asked as she pushed her breakfast plate away, which disappeared the moment she did so.

"I have a lot of summer homework that I'd like to get out of the way before I started working on my Alchemy packet." Jason said, looking at Leanne a little apologetically since the witch obviously loved the night life. "You have summer homework as well, and you know very well Madame Fay won't let us go out to the Fairie District unless all our summer work is completed."

"But I do have my summer homework completed. I could show it to Madame Fay right now! I can still go with Harry even if you didn't want too. He hasn't even been to Hogwarts yet so he doesn't have any summer homework to get in the way of having fun."

Jason raised his brow incredulously. "You've already finished it? We've only been back from Hogwarts for a day. You know Madame Fay actually _reads_ through your summer work to make sure it is done correctly, don't you?"

Leanne huffed. "Fine, I'll do it over again. Correctly this time. Not that I really care. After finally finishing my OWLs the last thing I want to do is more school work."

"It'll only get worse your NEWT year." Lisa pointed out. "It'll be more difficult if you slack during your sixth year."

"Maybe I don't want to take my NEWTs. I can drop out of school like Fred and George did and start my own business."

"Oh? And what sort of business will you be starting?" Lisa questioned doubtfully.

Leanne frown. "I don't know but I'll think of something I'm sure. At least before I have to sit for NEWTs." Lisa rolled her eyes.

"Leanne, don't stress about it too much. We'll work on our homework and hopefully get it over with in about a week. After that we can go out to all the clubs you enjoy." Jason placated. "Until then we can still have some fun. I was thinking we could go out to the Quidditch Pitch this afternoon and play a few short games. Sound like a good idea, Harry?"

Harry smiled, eager to get to play a game of Quidditch for the first time in months. It would also help him to get his mind off everything that's been going on and processing all he's been learning. It was only breakfast and he already found out that Oliver Wood was best friends with Jason, Hannah's Sponsors were the Longbottoms – which means Neville's parents probably weren't in St. Mungos long term care ward – and learned that the Diggory's are Sponsoring Lisa and that there was a potential that Cedric was still alive and well. Not only that, the Weasley twins were causing mischief as usual and started their own night club. It was definitely a lot to take in.

"Yeah, I'd really like that. I get to be Seeker though."

* * *

Over the next few days Harry explored and became more acquainted with this new world with the help of Jason, Lisa and Leanne. Not only did he play Quidditch with Jason, he was able to play and meet with many of the other teens who lived in the wizarding homes on the street. A few of them Harry knew in his world, such as Anthony Goldstein, Dean Thomas and, unfortunately, Colin Creevey. Colin wouldn't stop pestering Harry with questions when the younger boy found out Harry's surname was Riddle. It was annoying but at least Colin wasn't taking pictures of Harry at every opportunity.

Despite Colin's enthusiasm, the young boy had eventually calmed down and invited Harry to his house so that he could show Harry the Muggle Residential District of Diagon Alley. Once they had gotten closer to the Muggle houses, they approached a thick ward that left strange tingles all over Harry's body for a few moments before he was able to go through.

The area had looked just as Muggle as Surrey did. There were street lights, paved driveways, cars and mailboxes. Colin's brief tour of his home showed Harry it was stocked with every common muggle appliance as well as televisions and computers and an entire room filled with their movie collection as well as home videos they had recorded over the years.

Leanne had even taken Harry on an overly long and exhausting tour of Diagon to show him all of her favorite shops and restaurants. Even though they weren't allowed to go to the Fairie District yet, Harry had seen many things he had been absolutely certain had never existed in either Hogsmeade or Diagon back home. There were many jewelery stores, wizarding pawn shops, book stores, grocers, apothecaries as well as a rental store that rented quidditch brooms, formal robes and cauldrons for brewers who didn't want to spend money on an expensive or large cauldron that would only be used once for a special potion. There were even two different Quidditch Shops in the Alley.

It was in these Quidditch stores that Harry learned this world did indeed have a _Firebolt_ line but that the new model Harry had seen was called the _Komodo 3000_. Harry thought it was an amazing broom but would much prefer to keep his Firebolt. Even though the Komodo was newer it was designed more for players in the Keeper position whereas the Firebolt was still the best design used by Seekers. Despite that, Harry still enjoyed being able to look at the new brooms and Quidditch equipment, even though Leanne hadn't been so patient about Harry's perusal of the Quidditch shops.

Not only did Harry discover many new things out in the Alley, there were many things that were new to him in the Sanctuary as well. He had been introduced to many of the younger children at the Sanctuary, who were eager to get him to play games with them and read stories. Harry was amazed by how different the children stories were in the wizarding world than they were in the muggle world. Even the toys amazed him. Whereas in the muggle world many of the toys had to run on batteries to be interactive or make noise, the toys in the wizarding world were far more interactive and adaptable to certain play time situations than wouldn't be possible in the muggle world – all because of magic.

Titus, the youngest child in the Sanctuary, was a 5 year old blonde haired boy Harry had seen his first night at the Sanctuary, had introduced Harry to a wizarding card game called _Boiling Cauldron_. The game was rather enjoyable for Harry even though it was centered around potions ingredients. As you played, you had to make sure you traded out certain ingredient cards to ensure you didn't get stuck with a lethal combination, because if you did the cards would explode and you'd lose. Harry was worried at first that Titus was far too young for the game, especially since it was designed for students attending Hogwarts, but the little boy won more rounds than any of the older teens had.

Despite all the distractions, Harry couldn't help but feel a small thrum of anxiety run through his body throughout the day. Even as he became more comfortable with the people he was surrounded with he couldn't get himself to relax at the Sanctuary. He had a difficult time sleeping as he ended up tossing and turning throughout the night or waking up at random intervals. He even thought he was having nightmares, but always had a difficult time remembering them clearly – only knowing that he would always wake up in a cold sweat and fear running through his veins. He figured he was still coping with his 'murder' as he was sure he had remembered dreaming about pitying blue eyes before he was engulfed in a flash of green light.

Harry also thought his anxiety and restlessness was due to the fact that his clothes no longer smelt like the Pack. Harry thought it was a silly thing to be upset about but he had been surprised the first day the elves had brought him back his washed clothes only to realize they now faintly smelled like peppermint instead of the forest. He had still preferred to wear his old and tattered clothes instead of the new ones he had been provided with, but they had become a lot less comforting than before. Harry didn't understand it, he just knew he had felt a tightness in his chest that he had chosen to ignore by flying around the Pitch as fast as he could and distracting himself with many of the games the younger children begged him to participate in.

It didn't help that Malcolm was starting to become more hostile and difficult to deal with. There were a few times where he had seen Malcolm looking through his desk drawers and even attempting to read his protean journal. At one point, Malcolm had even tried going through Harry's moleskin pouch when Harry had left it sitting on his desk when he'd gone out to the Quidditch Pitch. Even though the pouch was charmed to keep anybody but Harry from opening it, Harry kept it on his person at all times since then. There were too many important things in that pouch that he couldn't bear to lose. Especially his dad's invisibility cloak and his photo album. He had no idea if or when he would return home, so those items were more precious than ever before, because he would never be able to replace those items as long as he was in a different world.

Despite Harry's actions to prevent Malcolm from causing more trouble, the sixth night Harry was there, Malcolm had lined Harry's bed with _Orson's Fire Powder_, a common agent used in potions. It caused Harry's skin to burn up as a painful rash sprouted all over his body. Harry had to grit his teeth to keep from crying out. It felt as though he were being bitten continuously by hundreds of fire ants.

Felicity, the other Matron, who also worked as a part-time Healer at St. Mungo's, fed Harry a multitude of potions to counteract the powders affects as Madame Fay yelled at Malcolm.

"I've had enough of this Malcolm. Your attitude is intolerable! There is no reason for you to treat another member of the Sanctuary in such a horrendous way. You'll be sleeping in the study and tending the garden until you can act like a respectable human being!"

"Why do I have to leave?" Malcolm spat. "This is _my_ room! Make Harry sleep in the study – it's not my fault I got here first!"

"I have told you multiple times that you would have to share a room once Harry arrived. I have no idea why you are having such a problem with this. You share a dorm with multiple boys for the majority of the year you're at Hogwarts for Morgana's sake! How is this different? Why are you so adamant about having your own room here?"

Malcolm's face reddened as though he were preparing to shout again but clamped his mouth shut before he could start, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Answer me Malcolm." Madame Fay demanded, voice harder than ever. "You're stubbornness over this whole situation is making me think you've been up to something."

"It doesn't matter! Just make him move to Jason's room...he isn't sharing with anybody else."

"I will not Malcolm and you know perfectly well why. Jason has his own room because he needs the space for his alchemy equipment so he can prepare for his apprenticeship and exams. There is no other place in the Sanctuary for us to put his work space."

"But that's – "

"Enough Malcolm. Go down to the study now. I have already spoken to your Sponsor about your deplorable behavior. Lord Johnson has taken away your allowance and revoked his permission for you to spend the week with Theodore Nott and his family. You may speak with him at a later time to determine how you can earn those privileges back."

"That isn't fair!" Malcolm screamed.

Madame Fay hit Malcolm with a silencing charm before grabbing the irate teens arm and escorting him out of the room herself. Many of the other inhabitants of the Sanctuary moved out of her way as they had been watching everything from outside the bedroom door.

A house elf popped in and replaced Harry's sheets that had been covered in the powder with a new set with a snap of it's fingers before popping out of the room. Harry sighed in relief as he slunk down to the bed, laying on his back as he felt the last remnants of the pain and rash disappearing from his body.

"Move on everyone and let Harry rest. You can speak to him in the morning, it's time you all settle down and go to bed." Felicity said as she shooed the numerous amounts of gathered youth still standing outside the open bedroom door.

"Goodnight Harry." Felicity said softly as she closed the door behind her, leaving Harry alone under the moonlight that shone through the window.

As Harry sat in his bed, engulfed in the quiet darkness of his room, he couldn't help but wish again that he had his wand. If he had it he would have been able to ward his bed, desk and wardrobe, thus preventing Malcolm from looking through his things and lacing his sheets with the fire powder.

It was the fact that Harry couldn't do anything to prevent another incident like tonight from occurring again that made him angry – even angrier than he was at Malcolm for doing those things in the first place. He hated that he'd have to depend on the Matrons to keep Malcolm in line and fix whatever mess the angry teen would cause. Harry hated he had to depend on them since he didn't think they were very reliable to deal with this sort of thing – considering how many other children and teenagers they were responsible for looking after.

It made Harry think that the only way he could stop Malcolm's hostility towards him was to figure out why Malcolm was so adamant about having his own room in the first place. Harry agreed with Madame Fay in thinking that Malcolm was up too something or hiding something that he didn't want the Matrons to find out about. If he were to figure out what it was, then maybe he'd be able to work something out with Malcolm. If it was something as simple as messing around with prank items, then Harry wouldn't have any problems keeping Malcolm's secret. Harry was sure it was something more serious than that though, especially with the way Malcolm has been acting – almost desperate – as though he would do whatever was necessary to make Harry so uncomfortable that he eventually preferred to sleep in the study instead of entering this room again.

So as Harry tugged his bed curtains close to block out the moonlight, he decided that he would watch Malcolm carefully and figure out what he was hiding. Even if it meant going through the other boys things. It would only be fair, Harry mused, since Malcolm had no problem poking around his things, as the brunet haired teen had proven several times this past week. Plus, Harry thought with a small smirk, it would give him the chance to get Malcolm back for the fire powder. Even though it wouldn't help the situation at all, Harry knew that if he retaliated it would show the other boy that he wasn't a pushover and wouldn't be gotten rid of so easily.

Harry already felt fuzzy plans forming through his mind as he slowly slipped into sleep.

_Harry gasped as he felt rough bark scrape the skin of his bare back as he was pushed harshly against the nearest tree. A tongue invaded his mouth and his gasp quickly morphed into a pleasured moan._

"_I love it when you walk around without a shirt on." A deep voice rasped as Harry felt a thumb flicker across his hardening nipples._

"_Ian, not now." Harry said even as his member began swelling rapidly in the confines of his leather trousers as he tilted his head up to deepen the kiss. "You know Remus doesn't like us alone together. He could be back at any moment."_

_Ian chuckled as he moved down to nibble on Harry's neck, his calloused hands clasping Harry's hips and tucking his thumbs beneath the front of Harry's trousers._

"_He's just mad he can't do anything about it."_

"_Only because you're the Alpha's son." Harry gasped, grabbing hold of Ian's shoulders as he felt the werewolf's erection press into his stomach. "He'd still break your neck though if he actually caught us."_

_Harry yelped as he felt his trousers and pants suddenly fall down his hips to pool around his ankles, his leaking member jutting out freely into the warm humid air of the forest._

"_I guess we'll have to hurry up then." Ian said as a smirk spread across his face, his golden eyes glinting in the afternoon daylight as he bent Harry over the trunk of a fallen tree..._

Harry jerked awake with a small moan, breathing heavily as he shifted uncomfortably when he felt a stickiness in his pants. He could feel his half hard member give a twitch as flashes of his dream still fluttered through his mind.

It took a few moments for him to straighten his muddled mind and calm his breathing, only to realize what he had been dreaming about. He hadn't thought of Ian once since appearing in the Forbidden Forest and he had no idea why he would start now. Ian had been both a blessing and a curse for Harry the moment he had met the 18 year old werewolf the day he and Remus had arrived at the pack.

Ian had been arrogant in his advances towards Harry, making his intentions and attraction towards Harry clear the moment he had been accepted into the pack; not even caring for Remus' warning growls to stay away, since Ian knew he was untouchable as Alpha Tragar's oldest son. It wasn't until then that Harry realized how overprotective werewolves are of their pups. Remus' eyes had been solid gold for nearly their first week at the Pack because of Ian – always growling at the Alpha's son and telling him he wasn't allowed to make advances towards his 15 year old pup. Despite Remus' annoying overprotective instincts, Ian had persisted. Tragar had just laughed the whole thing off whenever he saw how flustered Remus got, telling Moony that Harry was no longer a small child and to get over it.

Soon Ian had turned out to be more than an arrogant and randy werewolf. Ian had become a blessing for Harry, since he was the only one who could make Harry completely forget about the outside world. Ian was the only one who had offered Harry an escape from the knowledge that the war was getting bloodier as more and more wizards, witches and unsuspecting muggles were killed – while Harry had been hiding out in the forest.

Harry had felt guilt swell within him as he learned of more and more attacks and raids, knowing that he was hiding when he should be fighting to protect all those people. Knowing that if he just died it would be a major step in ending Voldemort's violent campaign that had torn throughout magical britain.

Despite the guilt and knowledge that his death was inevitable, he also feared his death, shied away from the thought as any mortal man would, wishing for life, wishing there really was a way to remove and destroy the Horcrux without having to die in the process...wishing that all of Remus and Sirius' research weren't in vain.

Those thoughts had just made him drown further into guilt.

Ian had been a blessing because he was the only one capable of taking all of that away. Even if it was only a temporary bliss that would disappear the moment he came down from the after glow of a heart stopping climax. It had eased Harry of his guilt and fears for just a moment to give him the strength to stay and the forest and stick to the plan he, Remus and Sirius had formed.

But Ian had been a curse too.

Despite the momentary peace he received through the carnal pleasures the werewolf offered, Ian also made Harry rethink everything he once thought he'd known about himself, and everything he had once thought he'd known about life.

Harry had always thought that he'd only have those carnal moments with a witch – a witch he had dated for a while and planned to marry and have kids with. But Harry had realized during those weeks of Ians non stop flirting and groping, that he had never enjoyed or been excited by the thought of a female body. Harry had realized that he enjoyed Ian's lingering touches over the hesitant and awkward kisses he had shared in the darkness of an alcove with a few of the females at Hogwarts. Harry realized that he didn't have to wait for marriage or a committed relationship to enjoy and desire those bodily pleasures. The first few weeks in the pack, Harry had wanked more times than he had in his life as he started to accept that he enjoyed fantasizing about cock, broad shoulders, taut arses and the hard, rippling muscles of a man.

Not only did Ian make Harry question his sexual orientation, Ian had made Harry hungrier for life than ever before. Ian made Harry realize how much he enjoyed being alive and enjoying those touches as they shagged on the forest floor. It made Harry yearn to explore the aspects of a more personal relationship, to wonder what it would be like to meet another man he wanted to share his life with. It made Harry wonder what true love was like – not the friendship kind of love he felt for Hermione and Ron or even the godfatherly/parental love he felt for Remus and Sirius. No, Harry had started to desire something much more than that, something his parents had once shared with each other. Harry had started to desire something that he knew he would never get to discover or experience since he knew he'd be dead before this war ended.

That was why Ian was a blessing and a curse. Harry had always enjoyed the momentary peace he got from their hurried fucking, but it also increased his guilt, since he desired to live more than ever before because of what Ian had shown him. Ian had made Harry realize that he didn't really know much about life...or living. Harry knew that there was still so much for him to learn and experience, yet realizing that he may never have the chance too. Ian had made Harry grieve even more at the thought of his death; because he had started to understand all that he would be losing, understanding for the first time – despite the amount of life threatening situations he had been in several times before – the potential future he would never get to experience. It had made Harry despise Ian yet yearn for him at the same. He always caved in so easily to the werewolf's touches, hardly giving any fight as those hands and lips made his mind sink into a pleasured haze.

Even now, as Harry slid out of bed, the sky outside showing it was nearly dawn, he cleaned up and slid into a pair of clean pants and pajamas – Harry still wanted that temporary peace of mind, that temporary but oh so enjoyable bliss that Ian offered. But Harry couldn't even have that anymore. Even if Harry hated Ian and was glad he was no longer with the werewolf, Harry still felt that slight pull towards the arrogant werewolf because he knew what his soft yet harsh touches offered him.

But he didn't even have the ability to make a choice about seeing Ian again or not. He was in a new world where nobody knew him because he had never belonged here in the first place. Harry didn't even have a counterpart in this world...how could he when his own father had never held a place in this world either?

Harry's morose thoughts had quickly chased away his dream induced arousal. He lay still for a long time as he felt the silence and awaking beams of light from the sun engulf him.

He had never felt so alone as he did in this moment.

Even though he had been at the Sanctuary for a week he didn't actually feel the pressure of his loneliness hit him until now. It was hard to spend time with people he had known, even if they had only been acquaintances, for the past five years and suddenly feel so separate from them. They all had the same faces but didn't hold the same memories he had of their times at Hogwarts. He was so close to them yet so far away from everybody in this world at the same time. He couldn't even imagine how difficult it would be for him when, or if, he even saw Hermione and Ron and the rest of the Weasleys in this world. Harry would have so many memories of them and yearn for their companionship only to have them look at him as a stranger.

Harry didn't even have the company of the Pack he had grown so accustomed too the past couple of months. Everyone in the Pack had become a sort of dysfunctional family to him and he wasn't even able to feel the press of their warm bodies surrounding him as he slept through the night in the puppy pile. Harry no longer had Ian there to distract him with pleasurable kisses and touches as they panted and sweated together in the secluded areas of the forest. Harry no longer had Ian to make him forget this overwhelming feeling of being alone.

Harry couldn't even whisper his troubles to Remus in the darkness of the forest or even use the two-way mirror to talk to Sirius – who always cheered him up and made him laugh when he was having a rough day or stressing over the war and the fact that he was a Horcrux.

It was then that Harry realized how much he missed his Godfathers, and he suddenly knew why he had been so upset about the smell of his clothes changing. Yes, it reminded him of the forest and the pack, but most of all it had reminded Harry of Remus and Sirius. Because his two mutts always smelled of the forest even if they had been secluded indoors for months at a time. These realizations only made his loneliness all the more unbearable.

Harry truly realized for the first time since arriving in this world that he may never see Sirius or Remus again. He suddenly understood, that this new world he was in would surround him with familiar faces, people he had once known and loved, only to leave him feeling as alone as he did now. And there wouldn't be a single person in this world to take that loneliness away.

As the sun continued to slowly rise, and the sounds of others getting ready for the day drifted into his room, as Harry was lost in these reflections, did Harry wonder if his memories, the only thing that affirmed his existence in his own world, would survive over time. For how could his memories be real if there was no one there to validate and reminisce over those same memories?

Would he forget his life back in his own world? If he wasn't able to return home, would the memories of his past start slipping away since the objects of his memories would never be reachable, never even existing in this reality? As the years went by, would he start wondering if he had imagined all these memories? Would he start thinking he was crazy and delusional?

There was no one who knew Harry's true memories and life experiences, nobody who would understand how Harry saw the world and the people he used to know and care about. Nobody...except Riddle.

A bright blue light started flashing, illuminating the whole room. As Harry lifted his head off the bed, squinting his eyes slightly against the flashing light, did Harry see that the protean journal was the source of the light.

Riddle was writing to him.

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